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HELEN  A.  DICKINSON 


GERMAJNT    MASTERS    OF    ART 


Photograph  by  Franz  Hanfstaengl 


ALBRECHT  DURER 

PORTHAIT    OF    HiMSELF,    1500 
ALTE    PINAKOTHEK,    MUNICH 


GERMAN  MASTERS 

OF  ART 


BY 

HELEN  A.  DICKINSON 

M.A.,  PH.D.,  fiEIDELBERG 

PORMERLT  SPECIAIj  LECTURER  IN  HISTORY   OP  ART 

AT  NORTHWESTERN  UNIVERSITY 


WITH     FOUB     ILLUSTRATIONS     IN     COLOUR     AND 
ONE     HUNDRED     AND     TEN     IN      MONOTONE 


NEW  YORK 

FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS 


Copyright,  1914.  h 
Frederick  A.  Stokes  Company 


All  rights  reserved  including  that  of  translation 
into  foreign  languages. 


D 


October,    19U 


^/1/? 


DEDICATED 

TO 

C.    D. 


FOREWORD 

The  increase  of  travel  in  Germany  and  the  frequent  pilgrimages 
that  are  being  made  to  points  of  interest  to  the  musician,  scholar 
and  pedagogue  are  contributing  to  the  greater  appreciation  of  the 
mediaeval  flavour  and  quaint  picturesqueness  of  her  smaller  towns 
with  their  narrow  streets  and  high-gabled  timber  houses,  and  to  a 
fuller  acquaintance  with  the  rich  treasures  of  her  art.  Whether 
the  traveller  explores  the  towns  and  villages  nestling  among  the 
mountains  of  Tyrol,  seeks  out  those  tucked  away  in  the  Black 
Forest,  the  Vosges  or  the  Harz  Mountains,  visits  the  walled  strong- 
holds of  the  Swabian  plains,  wanders  along  the  banks  of  the 
Rhine  or  follows  the  narrow,  picturesque  Danube  valley  to  the 
river's  source,  he  will  find  everywhere  imposing  castles  that  are 
veritable  treasure-houses  of  art;  ancient  monasteries  with  graceful, 
frescoed  cloisters  or  collections  of  rare  pictures;  beautiful  or  unique 
churches  with  fine,  old,  wooden,  carved  and  painted  altar-pieces; 
princely,  ducal  or  municipal  galleries  rich  in  interesting  works 
of  art. 

This  mounting  interest  seems  to  demand  a  complete  and  unified 
history  of  the  development  of  German  painting.  For  the  con- 
venience of  the  student  at  home  and  the  traveller  in  Germany  the 
artists  are  here  classified  broadly,  according  to  the  geographical 
distribution  of  their  centres  of  activity,  in  the  three  general 
divisons : 

1.  School  of  Cologne:  including     Hamburg,     Cologne, 

Westphalia  and  Saxony. 

2.  School  of  Swabia:  including    the    Middle    Rhine, 

Upper  Rhine,  Colmar,  German 
Switzerland,  Ulm,  Augsburg. 

3.  School  of  Nuremberg 

or  Franconia:  including    Tyrol,    Upper    Bava- 

ria, Ratisbon  and  Nuremberg. 

vii 


viii  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

These  divisions  are  suggested  also  by  the  fact  that  the  art  of 
each  is  marked,  in  general,  by  distinct  characteristics.  The  art  of  the 
School  of  Cologne  is,  in  the  main,  dreamy  and  lyric,  that  of  Swabia 
is  a  narrative  or  illustrative  art  and  that  of  Nuremberg  is  virile, 
impassioned  and  dramatic. 

I  wish  to  express  my  sincere  thanks  especially  to  Dr.  Henry 
Thode,  formerly  of  Heidelberg  University,  who  first  opened  my  eyes 
to  the  beauty  and  significance  of  German  art;  to  Count  von  Bemstorff, 
Ambassador  from  Germany  to  the  United  States,  Col.  Theodore 
Roosevelt  and  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott  for  valuable  introductions;  to 
Director  Lichtwark  and  Dr.  Borger  of  the  Kunsthalle,  Hamburg, 
for  the  loan  of  photographs  of  pictures  in  the  Kunsthalle  and 
for  permission  to  reproduce  illustrations  in  Dr.  Lichtwark's 
"Master  Bertram;"  to  Dr.  Max  Friedlander  of  Berlin  and  Dr. 
Braune  of  Munich  for  helpful  opinions  and  suggestions,  and  to 
those  who  made  it  possible  for  me  to  see  personally  all  the  pic- 
tures described  in  this  volume. 


CONTENTS 


PART  I 

CHAPTEB  PAGE 

I    German  Art  as  an  Expression  of  German  National  Char- 
acter        3 

II    Book  Illumination 10 

III  Fresco-painting 19 

IV  The  School  of  Prague,  the  Earliest  School  of  Art  in 

Germany  .  , 35 

PART  II 
SCHOOL  OF  COLOGNE 

HAMBURG 

V    Master  Bertram  van  Byrde 41 

VI    Master   Francke — Heinrich  Funhof — Absalom  Stumme — 

Heinrich  Borneman 52 

COLOGNE 

VII    The  Idealists:  Master  Wilhelm  and  Stephan  Lochner    .  60 
VIII    The   Realists:  Masters    Dominated   by   the  Art  of  the 

Netherlands 69 

IX    The  Portraitists  of  the  XVI  Century 77 

WESTPHALIAN  PAINTERS 

X  Master  Conrad  Stollen — Master  of  Liesborn — N.  Sueln- 
MEiGR — Johann  Koerbecke — Gert  Von  Lon — Hein- 
rich AND  Victor  DtJNWEGGE — Master  of  Cappenberg — 
Heinrich  Aldegrever — ^Ludger  tom  Ring 81 

SAXONY 

XI    Lucas  Cranach 86 

XII    Minor  Painters 94 

ix 


X  CONTENTS 

PART  III 
SCHOOL  OF  SWABIA 
THE  MIDDLE  RHINE 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XIII  Three  Frankfort  Masters:  Master  of  Frankfort  (Hans 

Fyol?) — Master  of  the  House  Book  (Martin  Hess?) — 
Hans  Grimmer 101 

XIV  Matthaus  Grunewald 104 

XV    The  Question  of  the  Identity  of  Pseudo-Grunewald  .    .   114 

THE  UPPER  RHINE 

XVI    Lucas  Moser,  Conrad  Witz  and  Hans  Baldung  Grun  .    .117 
>     XVII    Martin  Schongauer  and  the  Colmar  School 127 

GERMAN  SWITZERLAND 
XVIII    The  Groups  of  Painters  in  Basel,  Bern  and  Zurich    .    .   132 

ULM 

XIX    The  Story-Tellers  of  the  XV  Century 137 

SWABIA 
XX    The  Artistic  Dependancies  of  Ulm:  Nordlingen,  Rothen- 

BURG   AND    MeMMINGEN 147 

AUGSBURG 

XXI  Hans  Holbein  the  Elder 152 

XXII  Hans  Burgkmair 161 

XXIII  Minor  Artists 168 

V   XXIV  Hans  Holbein  the  Younger 174 

PART  IV 
SCHOOL  OF  NUREMBERG 

XXV    The  Tyrolese  Painters 191 


CONTENTS 


XI 


UPPER  BAVARIA 

CHAPTEB  PAGE 

XXVI    Painters  in  Munich  and  Landshut 198 

RATISBON 

XXVII    Albkecht  Altdorfer 202 

XXVIII    The  Pupils  of  Altdorfer 211 

NUREMBERG 

XXIX  The  XIV  Century 212 

XXX  Master  Berthold 215 

XXXI  Master  Pfenning 222 

XXXII  Hans  Pleydenwurff 228 

XXXIII  Michael  Wolgemut 232 

XXXIV  WiLHELM  Pleydenwurff 240 

XXXV  Minor  Painters 241 

'XXXVI    Albrecht  DiJRER 248 

XXXVII    Pupils  and  Followers  of  Durer 271 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

DttBEK.     Portrait  of  Himself,  1500 Frontispiece 


FACING 
FACE 


ScHONGAUER.     Virgin  and  Child  in  a  Rose  Arbour 4 

GhUnewald.     The  Entombment 5 

Pacher.     Coronation  of  the  Virgin 6 

Bertram.    Saints,  carved  in  Wood  and  painted 7 

GRtJNEWALD.     The  Temptations  of  St.  Anthony 8 

Wood-Carving  :  Figure  in  the  Church  in  Thann 9 

Initial  Letter:  From  the  Psalter  of  Hermann  of  Thuringia 10 

Book  Illumination:  Evangelist,  from  Charlemagne's  Bible 10 

Book  Illumination:  Monks  presenting  Bible  to  Charles  the  Bald  ...  11 

Book  Illumination:  The  Battles  of  King  David 12 

Book  Illumination:  Parable  of  the  Great  Supper 13 

Book  Illumination  :  From  Heinrich  von  Veldegke's  "  iEneid  " 14 

Book  Illumination:  "Superbia,"  from  Herrad's  "Pleasure  Garden"  .  .  15 
Book  Illumination:  Minnesingers,  from  the  Manessian  Codex  (Colour 

Plate) 16 

Fresco  :  The  Last  Judgment,  St.  George's  Church,  Oberzell 18 

Frescoes  :  Isolde  and  BragSne  meeting  Tristan  in  the  Garden,  and  Figures 

from  the  Bathroom,  Runkelstein  Castle 19 

Frescoes:  The  Vision  of  Ezekiel,  and  Decorative  Borders,  Church  in 

Schwarzrheindorf  (Colour  Plate) 20 

Frescoes:  In  the  Apse  of  Brunswick  Cathedral      24 

Painted  Wooden  Ceiling,  St.  Michael's  Basilica,  Hildesheim 25 

Fresco  :  Lords  and  Ladies  dancing,  Runkelstein  Castle  (Colour  Plate)   .    .  28 

Altar-piece:  "The  Golden  Altar" 32 

Antependium:  From  St.  Nicholas'  Church,  Soest 33 

Theodoric  of  Prague.     Virgin  and  Child  with  Saints  and  Archbishop 

Oeko  of  Wlaschim 36 

Master  Bertram.     God  warns  Adam  and  Eve  not  to  eat  of  the  Fruit .    .  46 

Master  Bertram.     The  Angels'  Visit 47 

Master  Bertram.    The  Nativity 50 

Master  Francke.     Angels  supporting  the  Dead  Christ 51 

Master  Francke.     Thomas  h  Becket  fleeing  from  Assassins 56 

Master  Francke.     The  Entombment •  57 

Madonna  with  the  Bean  Blossom,  Saints  Barbara  and  Catherine  ...  62 

Lochner.     Madonna  in  Rose  Arbour 63 

xiii 


xiv  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING 
PAGES 

LocHNER.     Madonna  with  the  Violet 68 

Master  of  the  Holy  Kinship.     The  Holy  Kinship 69 

Master  of  Saint  Severin.     The  Virgin  with  Saints  and  Donors   ....  74 

Master  of  Saint  Bartholomew.     The  St.  Thomas  Altar 75 

Bruyn.     Portrait  of  Burgomaster  Johannes  van  Ryht 78 

Master  Conrad.     Saints  Ottilie  and  Dorothea 82 

Master  of  Liesborn.     Angel  holding  a  Chalice 83 

Aldegrever.     Portrait  of  a  Young  Man 84 

Cranach.     Rest  on  the  Flight  into  Egypt 88 

Cranach.     The  Crucifixion  (with  Portraits  of  Cranach  and  Luther)  ...  89 

Cranach.     The  Judgment  of  Paris 92 

Cranach.    Luther,  Melanchthon  and  Frederick  the  Wise 93 

Raphon.     Annunciation 96 

Master  of  Frankfort.     Virgin  and  Child  with  St.  Anna 97 

GRtJNEWALD.     Holy  Night 104 

GRttNEWALD.     Saints  Erasmus  and  Maurice  in  Conversation 105 

GRtJNEWALD.     Angels'  Concert 110 

GRtJNEWALD.     The  Crucifixion Ill 

Pseudo-GrUnewald.     St.  Martha  with  the  Dragon 116 

MosER.     St.  Mary  Magdalen  Altar 117 

WiTZ.     Saints  Mary  Magdalen  and  Catherine  in  a  Cloister 122 

Baldung  (GrUn).     Holy  Night;  Flight  into  Egypt 123 

Baldung  (GRtJN).     Allegorical  Figure,  Music 124 

Schongauer.     The  Nativity 130 

AsPER.     Portrait  of  Zwingli 134 

MuLTSCHER.     The  Resurrection 138 

ScHtJHLEiN.     High  Altar  in  Tiefenbronn 139 

Zeitblom.    The  Annunciation 140 

Zeitblom.     Vera  Icon 141 

Hans,  Maler  zu  Schwaz.     Portrait  of  Ulrich  Fugger 142 

ScHAFFNER.     Anuunciation 143 

Herlin.     Virgin  and  Child  with  Saints  and  the  Artist's  Family    ....  148 

Strigel.     Portrait  of  Emperor  Maximilian 149 

Holbein  the  Elder.     St.  Paul's  Basilica,  with  Scenes  from  the  Life  of 

St.  Paul 156 

Holbein  the  Elder.     Saint  Barbara  and  Saint  Elizabeth  of  Hungary   .  157 

Burgkmair.     Group  of  Saints 162 

BuRGKMAiR.     Virgin  and  Child •    •  163 

Ambrosius  Holbein.     Portrait  of  Hans  Herbst,  the  Swiss  Painter    ...  170 

Amberger.     Portrait  of  Sebastian  Munster,  the  Cosmographer 171 

Holbein.     Christ  in  the  Tomb l'J'8 

Holbein.     Shutters  from  the  Organ  in  Basel  Cathedral 179 


nXUSTEATIONS  xv 

FACING 
PAGES 

Holbein.     Madonna  of  the  Meyer  Family 180 

Holbein.     Erasmus 181 

Holbein    Portrait  of  Georg  Gisze 1  82 

Holbein.     Christine  of  Denmark 183 

Pacher.     St.  Wolfgang's  Last  Communion 194 

Pacheb.     St.  Wolfgang  compelling  the  Devil  to  hold  his  Bible 195 

Pollack.     St.  Peter  walking  on  the  Waves 200 

Altdorfer.     Satyr  Family  in  a  Landscape 202 

Altdorfer.     St.  George  in  a  Beech  Forest 203 

Altdorfer.     Rest  on  the  Flight  into  Egypt 204 

Altdorfer.     Holy  Night 205 

Altdorfer.     Battle  of  Arbela 206 

Altdorfer.     Susannah  at  the  Bath  (Detail) 207 

Altdorfer.     Riches  and  Poverty 208 

Altdorfer.     The  Crucifixion 209 

Master  Berthold.     Coronation  of  the  Virgin,  from  the  Imhof  Altar  ,    .  218 

Master  Berthold.     The  Crucifixion,  from  the  Bamberg  Altar 219 

Master  Berthold.     Imhof  Madonna 220 

Franconian  Master  ABOUT  1430.     Virgin  in  "Wheat  Ear"  Garments.    .  221 

Pfenning.     The  Crucifixion 226 

Pfenning.     Madonna  of  Succour 227 

Hans  Pleydenwurff.     Portrait  of  Canon  Sch5nborn 230 

Hans  Pleydenwurff.     The  Crucifixion 231 

Wolgemut.     The  Crucifixion 234 

Wolgemut.     Descent  from  the  Cross 235 

Frescoes:     In  the  Council  Chamber,  City  Hall,  Goslar 238 

WiLHELM  Pleydenwurff.     St.  Vitus  in  the  Lions'  Den 239 

DtJRER.     Portrait  Drawing  of  Himself  at  the  Age  of  thirteen 250 

DttRER.     The  Nativity 256 

Dt^RER.     Festival  of  Rose  Garlands 257 

DtJRER.     Christ  on  the  Cross 258 

DtJRER.     Adam 259 

DUrer.     Madonna  and  Child  in  a  Landscape  {Colour  Plate) 260 

DtJRER.     Knight,  Death  and  Devil 262 

Dt*RER.     Marginal  Drawing,  Emperor  Maximilian's  Prayerbook     ....  264 

DtfRER.     Portrait  of  Hieronymus  Holzschuher 268 

DtJRER.     Four  Apostles 269 

SuEss  VON  KuLMBACH.     St.  Gcorgc » 274 

SuEss  VON  KuLMBACH.    St.  Peter  Preaching 275 

ScHAUFELEiN.     St.  Jcromc  in  the  Wilderness 278 

ZiEGLEB.     (Master  of  Messkirch.)     Virgin  Adored  by  Saints 279 


PART  I 


GEEMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

CHAPTER  I 

GERMAN  ART  AS  AN  EXPRESSION  OF  GERMAN 

NATIONAL  CHARACTER 

IN  considering  the  art  of  any  country,  it  is  necessary  to  examine 
not  only  into  the  conditions  under  which  that  art  developed  and 

the  traditions  by  which  it  was  governed  in  its  development,  but, 
above  all,  into  the  character  of  the  people.  For  the  art  of  any 
people  is  the  reflection  of  the  common  characteristics  of  that  people; 
in  other  words,  a  revelation  of  its  attitude  toward  the  inner  world 
of  feeling  and  the  outer  world  of  phenomena.  Hence,  when  a 
Japanese  painter  adopts  the  types  and  manner  of  the  schools  of 
Paris,  he  ceases  to  be  a  Japanese  artist  and  becomes  a  "man  without 
a  country."  When  the  German  painters  of  the  XVII  and  XVIII 
centuries  strove  to  be  as  Raphael,  they  ceased  to  be  inspired  reve- 
lators  and  became  more  or  less  clever  craftsmen,  makers  of 
empty,  prettily  coloured  forms.  Certain  of  the  works  of  Flax- 
man,  Canova  and  Thorwaldsen  do  not  interest  us  because  they 
are  not  vital;  that  is  to  say,  instinct  with  the  character — the 
inner  life — of  the  nation  out  of  the  fullness  of  whose  heart  the 
artist  should  speak. 

It  is  for  this  reason  chiefly,  that,  in  turning  from  the  study 
of  the  art  of  one  country  to  that  of  another,  a  certain  mental 
and  emotional  adjustment  is  necessary,  just  as  in  passing  from 
conversation  in  one  language  to  conversation  in  a  different  lan- 
guage. The  whole  spirit  and  content  of  the  French  language,  for 
instance,  is  as  different  from  German  as  the  French  people  are 
from  the  Germans.  The  same  readjustment  is  necessary  in  turn- 
ing from  the  study  of  Italian  art  to  German  art  as  in  passing 
from  the  engaging  melody  and  flowing  rhythm  of  Rossini  to  the 
clashing  dissonances  and  triumphant  harmonies  of  Wagner.  Ger- 
man art,  as  the  expression  of  German  national  character,  differs 
widely  from  Italian  art  in  its  ideals  as  in  its  significance.     For  the 

3 


4  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

key-note  of  the  Germanic  character  is  emotion,  and  the  ideal  of 
German  art  is,  not  beauty,  but  expression.  The  strength  and  the 
weakness  alike  in  German  art  are  the  outcome  of  this  intense 
emotionalism. 

Its  most  significant  manifestation  is  the  inner  perception,  the 
insight  which  differentiates  between  the  real  and  the  apparent — 
between  the  essence  and  the  phenomenon — which  is  so  greatly 
the  German  gift  and  which  reveals  itself  so  marvellously  through 
the  course  of  the  development  of  German  philosophic  thought 
from  the  Mystics  to  Luther  and  Kant.  What  the  German  appre- 
hends as  real  is  the  inner  nature — character  and  emotion — and 
this  he  expresses  in  art  to  the  disregard  of  beauty  of  external 
form  and  feature.  Hence  one  of  the  greatest  superficial  attrac- 
tions is  lacking,  for  the  most  part,  in  German  art.  Few  Ger- 
man Virgins,  for  instance,  can  vie  with  the  Italian  Madonnas  in 
formal  beauty.  Some  of  them  are  homely  enough,  large-boned 
and  plain-featured,  but  they  breathe  such  passion  of  mother-love 
and  devotion!  And  the  Child  is  no  cherub;  like  as  not  he  is  a 
snub-nosed,  flat-faced  little  chap.  Well,  what  of  that?  He  is  not 
loved  for  his  beauty!  Thus  is  revealed  the  true  essence  of  genu- 
ine motherhood;  the  same  instinct  which  makes  the  little  girl  turn 
from  her  handsome,  life-sized,  wax  dolls  to  love  with  her  whole 
heart  the  most  disreputable-looking  rag  doll  in  her  whole  collec- 
tion. "Gefilhl  ist  alles''  (Feeling  is  everything)  said  Goethe,  giv- 
ing us  in  these  few  words  the  key  to  German  character,  German 
art  and  German  music. 

This  Germanic  perception  of  the  inner  life  and  character  of  the 
subject,  this  penetration  below  the  surface  together  with  the  close 
observation  of  details  which  is  spoken  of  in  the  scientific  world  as 
German  thoroughness,  made  the  Germans  not^ly  great  portrait 
painters,  and  advanced  the  landscape  from  the  position  of  back- 
ground to  which  it  is  relegated  in  Italian  art  (except  Venetian)  to 
share  equally  with  the  human  element  in  the  picture.  The  earliest 
expression  of  German  religious  thought.  Mystic  Philosophy,  adopted 
as  practically  its  basic  premise  the  article  that  God,  the  eternal 
essence  of  all  things,  is  not  only  in  man,  but  in  all  nature  as  well. 
Therefore  man  has  vital  interest  in  all  that  lives  and  moves,  in  all 


Photograph  by  Ad.  Braun  et  Cie 

MARTIN  SCHONGAUER 

Virgin  and  Child  in  a  Rose  Abboub 

ST.  martin's  church,  colmar 


GERMAN  ART  5 

that  blooms  and  withers,  as  one  in  essence  with  himself.  The  "flower 
in  the  crannied  wall"  is  akin  to  God,  and  to  know  it  is  to  "know  what 
God  and  man  is. "  It  follows  that  the  landscape  in  its  various  moods 
can  readily  be  conceived  of  as  reflecting  the  states  of  mind  of  the 
human  beings  placed  in  it  by  the  artist;  and  since  these  human  ele- 
ments possess  for  the  German  artist  intensely  emotional  states  of 
mind,  the  landscape  is  of  great  value  in  providing  an  atmosphere 
which  reveals  them.  This  is  a  function  of  landscape  which  we  are 
accustomed  to  regard  as  extremely  modern  in  poetry  and  art,  but  in 
such  a  picture  as  the  XV  century  Griinewald  "Entombment  of 
Christ,"  in  Colmar,  the  desolation  of  the  landscape  with  the  trees 
cut  off  half-way,  showing  only  the  bare  trunks,  creates  an  atmos- 
phere of  profound  melancholy  and  stirs  our  hearts  to  sympathy 
with  those  mourners'  tears. 

A  second  expression  of  the  German  emotional  nature  in  German 
art  is  to  be  noted  in  the  excesses  of  that  art;  in  the  breaking  through 
all  bounds  of  law  and  restraint  into  excessive  movement  and  exces- 
sive detail.  We  might  almost  venture  to  make  the  assertion  that  in 
German  art  nothing  is  ever  absolutely  still.  In  the  illuminated 
initials  of  the  earliest  manuscripts,  the  plants,  stems  and  leaves 
twined  about  the  letters  curve  and  flutter;  the  carved  figures  on  the 
cathedral  portals  twist  and  turn  in  their  endeavour  to  express  the 
sentiments  that  animate  them;  their  eyes  roll,  their  features  are 
distorted,  their  garments  are  as  if  blown  by  the  wind.  In  the  colour 
art,  too,  there  are  apt  to  be  hurrying  figures,  garments  f alhng  in  over- 
abundant, restless  folds.  Even  inanimate  things  reflect  agitation, 
as  in  the  Diirer  "Madonna  with  the  Pear"  in  which  the  gnarled, 
old  tree  conveys  a  sense  of  movement  in  the  almost  human 
disquiet  of  its  twisted  bark. 

Then  too,  the  highly  strung,  emotional  nature  of  the  Germans, 
contemplating  a  certain  situation,  phenomenon,  or  landscape  sees 
every  detail  and  cannot  bear  to  disregard  any  one  of  them.  Hence 
their  pictures  are  apt  to  be  crowded  with  figures,  each  one  painted 
with  keenest  characterisation  of  the  individual,  and  at  the  same  time 
to  contain  every  tree,  shrub,  flower,  and  berry,  every  rabbit,  snail 
and  cricket,  every  stone  and  bit  of  moss  the  painter  observes  in  a 
landscape  or  lovingly  adds  from  a  full  heart.     The  Italian  painters 


6  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

eliminated  much  of  this  detail  as  confusing,  and  painted  with  great 
simplicity  what  we  should  call  "composed'*  pictures.  This  was 
foreign  to  the  nature  of  the  Germans,  who  never  could  attain  it,  even 
consciously,  and  remain  German,  Melanchthon  reported  of  Diirer 
that  he  said  that  he  had  "caught  glimpses  of  the  original  countenance 
of  Nature  and  learned  that  simplicity  was  the  highest  ornament 
of  art,  but  he  could  not  attain  it."  To  this  excessive  movement 
and  detail  resulting  from  the  German  emotionalism,  is  due,  in  large 
measure,  the  paucity  of  works  of  sculpture  in  Germany.  Sculpture 
was  the  supreme  medium  of  the  classic  world,  where  all  was  beauty 
and  perfect  proportion  without  strain  of  movement  or  emotion;  but 
for  the  German  world  with  its  new  watchword,  expression,  it  was 
inadequate.  It  is  interesting  to  see  how  the  artists  strove  to  break 
bounds  by  crowding  details  into  relief  effects  in  altars,  and  to  over- 
come limitations  by  painting  the  figures  on  the  altars  of  carved  wood; 
even  as  Max  Klinger  and  others  at  the  present  time  are  endeavouring 
to  endow  sculpture  with  painting's  prerogatives  by  using  coloured 
marbles  and  stones,  as  in  Klinger's  Beethoven  statue  in  Leipsic 
Museum. 

A  third  distinctive  characteristic  of  German  art  as  an  expression 
of  German  character  is  imagination.  It  lends  the  fairy-tale  atmos- 
phere to  the  mysterious  depth  of  such  forests  as  we  find  in  Altdorfer's 
Passion  scenes;  it  enables  the  artist  to  portray  with  what  we  charac- 
terise as  intense  reahsm  such  scenes  as  those  in  the  Passion  of  Christ 
in  which  the  villains  doing  the  horrible  deed  are  imagined  and 
portrayed  as  incredibly  evil  and  repulsive;  it  transcends  the  bounds 
of  what  we  are  accustomed  to  designate  as  imagination  and  passes 
into  pure  phantasy.  Phantastic  forms  of  impossible  birds  and  ani- 
mals, figures  half  human  and  half  animal,  enliven  the  initials  of  the 
early  missals,  while,  on  the  altars,  weird  shapes  render  such  repre- 
sentations as  the  "Temptation  of  St.  Anthony"  humorous,  and  are 
oftentimes  present  as  well  in  the  most  solemn  scenes.  It  is  this 
ungoverned,  unrestrained  phantasy,  together  with  the  Germanic 
humour,  which  differentiates  the  German  imaginative  world  and  its 
creations  from  the  imaginative  world  of  the  Greeks  and  Italians. 
Indeed  the  Germanic  freedom  of  humour  in  art  serves  of  itself  to 
distinguish  sharply  German  art  from  Italian.    The  only  subject 


Photograph  by  Fi\*<!.  Hoefle,  Augsburg 

MICHAEL  PACHER 

Coronation  of  the  Virgin  {Wood-carving) 

CHURCH   IN   ST.    WOLFGANG,    NEAR  SALZBURG 


GERMAN  ART  7 

which  the  Italians  seem  to  have  felt  at  Hberty  to  treat  humorously 
is  the  Putti,  those  bacchanalian,  singing  and  dancing  children  of 
frieze,  pulpit  and  picture.  And  it  is  a  significant  fact  that  the 
first  to  introduce  this  spark  of  humour  was  Donatello,  the  sculptor 
of  the  "Crucifixion"  on  the  pulpit  in  San  Lorenzo,  the  greatest 
tragic  artist  of  them  all  except  Michael  Angelo.  On  looking  deeper,  we 
find  this  to  be  natural  enough,  for  hmnour  is  only  the  reverse  side 
of  tragedy.  The  sense  of  the  tragic  is  based  upon  a  deep,  pas- 
sionate insight  into  the  inner  meaning  of  life,  its  problems,  its 
goal  and  the  struggles  toward  that  goal.  In  art  it  has  found 
its  fullest  expression  in  the  representation  of  the  perfect  God- 
Man,  the  Idealy  and  his  tragic  relations  to  the  Actual  in  his  life  and 
his  death.  Humour  is,  on  the  other  hand,  the  gay  and  dehberate 
play  with  the  external  phenomena  of  life,  manifesting  itself  mainly 
in  exaggeration  of  their  characteristics.  This  humour  in  all  its 
various  moods  is  present  in  large  measure  in  German  art,  from  the 
tenderest  portrayal,  as  in  Diirer's  "Adoration,*'  of  the  Httle  girl's 
irreverent  rabbit,  with  cocked  ears  and  mischievous  eye,  who 
wiU  not  say  his  prayers,  to  the  wildest  phantasy  of  a  Griinewald's 
"St.  Anthony's  Temptations  in  the  Wilderness."  Its  reverse 
side,  the  tragic,  is  present  also  to  an  extent  unparalleled  in  the 
art  expression  of  any  other  people.  If  you  will  let  your  memory 
traverse  the  whole  field  of  Italian  art,  you  will  find  that  the 
subjects  which  come  most  readily  to  mind  are  the  "Madonna 
and  Child"  in  countless  representations;  the  "Holy  Conversa- 
tion;'* the  "Flight  into  Egypt"  and  other  similar  subjects,  which 
are  beautiful  in  themselves.  On  the  other  hand,  recall  the  gal- 
leries of  German  pictures  and  you  will  find  that  the  subjects 
treated  most  frequently  are  those  connected  with  the  Passion 
of  Christ.  In  paintings,  drawings,  woodcuts,  etchings,  engravings, 
lithographs,  we  find  numberless  representations  of  every  scene 
of  the  Passion  from  the  "Christ  in  Gethsemane"  to  the  "Entomb- 
ment." The  conscientious  student  who  visits  the  smaller  churches 
in  Nuremberg,  and  those  in  the  towns  within  a  radius  of  some 
thirty  miles  thereabouts,  will  be  utterly  amazed,  and  depressed 
in  spirit  as  well,  by  the  great  altars,  each  with  four  or  six  wings, 
which   he  finds  everywhere,   depicting    the    sufferings    of   Christ. 


8  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

Diirer  alone  told  the  story  of  the  Passion  in  cycle  after  cycle,  as  the 
large  woodcut  Passion  in  12  sheets,  the  small  woodcut  Passion  in 
37  sheets,  the  copper-plate  Passion  in  17  sheets,  the  so-called 
"Green  Passion"  (on  green  paper),  besides  single  engravings, 
woodcuts,  drawings  and  paintings. 

To  recapitulate:  German  art  as  an  expression  of  German 
national  character  is  essentially  a  great  emotional  art.  Its  charac- 
teristics, therefore,  are  insight — deep  penetration  into  the  inner 
life  or  significance  of  the  subject,  with  resultant  vivid  characterisa- 
tion but  with  relatively  scant  regard  to  external  beauty;  ex- 
cessive movement  and  excessive  detail,  observable  alike  in  its  archi- 
tecture, sculpture  and  painting;  humour  to  the  degree  of  the  phan- 
tastic;  and  tragedy,  manifesting  itself  to  even  the  superficial  student 
in  the  manifold  representations  of  the  Passion  of  Christ. 

We  have  seen  that  the  strength  and  the  weakness  alike  of  German 
art  lies  in  its  inevitable  voicing  of  German  character.  Even  this 
brief  consideration  cannot  fail  to  reveal  to  us  the  fact  that  whenever 
German  painting  falls  short  of  satisfying  us  wholly  it  is  not  due  to 
absence  of  genius  or  inspiration  on  the  part  of  the  artists,  nor  to  lack 
of  artistic  sense  on  the  part  of  the  German  people,  but  to  the  in- 
adequacy of  the  medium.  Colour  art  was,  after  all,  but  the  voice  of 
Germany's  childhood,  when  she  was  striving  to  express  herself  and 
had  not  found  the  way.  All  that  intense  emotional  nature  and  that 
insight  into  the  real  which  is  the  mystic  sense,  which  manifested 
themselves  in  the  restless  movement,  the  crowding  detail,  the  humour, 
the  phantasy,  the  deep  sense  of  the  tragic  which  must  go  hand  in 
hand  with  penetration  into  life's  meaning,  all  that  which  German 
sculpture,  architecture  and  painting  strove,  yea,  agonised,  to  ex- 
press, found  voice  at  last  in  that  art  which  is  the  full  expression 
of  German  national  character,  the  Germanic  Art  of  Music. 
Nevertheless  there  does  remain  to  us  a  large  body  of  work  by 
German  painters  which  has  been,  until  recently,  too  little  known 
and  appreciated;  work  of  surprising  beauty  and  of  deep  interest 
and  significance. 

A  study  of  the  development  of  German  painting  reveals  that  its 
history  is  marked  off    into  the    following  quite   distinct    periods: 


Photofjraph  by  F.  Bruckmann  A-G,  Munich 

MATTHAUS  GRUJsEWALD 

The  Temptations  of  St.  Axthont 
museum,  colmar 


Figure  Carved  in  Wood 
IN  THE  Church  in  Thann,  near  Strassburg 


GER^IAN  ART  9 

The  XIV  century;  the  first  half  of  the  XV  century;  the  second 
half  of  the  XV  century;  the  XVI  century. 

In  the  XIV  century  the  painters  adhered  to  the  traditions  of 
earlier  Church  art.  On  their  altar-pieces  they  presented  the  types 
and  employed  the  technique  of  the  book  illuminators  and  fresco- 
painters.  Their  people  were,  in  a  large  measure,  typical,  ideal  in 
outward  form  and  bearing;  they  lived  and  moved,  for  the  most 
part,  as  types  and  symbols  and  were  only  rarely  characterised  as 
individuals. 

In  the  XV  century  the  artists  began  gradually  to  treat  the 
men  and  women  in  their  pictures  as  individuals.  They  endeav- 
oured to  give  them  modelled  bodies  of  flesh  and  blood,  to  set 
them  in  space — that  is  to  say,  to  gain  perspective  in  their  pic- 
tures— and  to  bring  out  the  peculiarities  of  feature  or  expression 
which  would  mark  them  as  distinct  personaUties. 

In  the  second  half  of  the  XV  century  much  technical  aid  as  well 
as  encouragement  toward  reahsm  was  afforded  by  the  art  of  the 
Netherlands.  The  German  painters  made  pilgrimages  to  the 
studios  of  the  Van  Eycks  or  their  pupils  to  learn  the  wonderful  new 
technique  of  painting  in  oils,  which  lent  such  sculptural  roundness 
to  the  figures,  and  the  secret  of  perspective,  which  gave  such  depth  to 
the  landscape  which  superseded  the  gold  background. 

In  the  XVI  century,  with  the  mastery  of  these  problems,  the 
literal  realism  of  the  fifteenth  gave  place,  in  the  works  of  the  greatest 
masters,  to  a  new  idealism  evolved  from  the  study  of  nature.  While 
using  actual  persons  and  things  in  nature  as  their  models,  artists  like 
Diirer  realised  that  the  presentation,  for  instance,  of  such  freaks  of 
nature  as  the  villainous  monsters  which  appear  so  frequently  in  the 
"Passion"  pictures  of  the  XV  century,  is  not  true  realism,  since 
these  enormities  are  not  natural,  but  abnormal,  and  they  made  the 
actors  in  their  pictured  dramas  more  representative.  The  difference 
in  this  respect  between  the  realism  of  the  XV  and  that  of  the  XVI 
centuries  is  the  difference  between  modern  so-called  "realism" — 
or  a  realistic  Caliban — and  the  realism  of  Shakespeare's  typical 
characters.  In  short,  the  art  of  the  XVI  century  was  idealised  and 
typical,  or  universal,  and  at  the  same  time  true  to  Hfe,  human  and 
individual. 
y 


Initial  letter,  from 
the  Psalter  of 
Hermann  of  Thuringia 


CHAPTER  n 

BOOK  ILLUMINATION 

FROM  THE  IX  TO  THE  XIV  CENTURY 

ITCH  art  as  there  was  in  Germany  before 
the  age  of  Charlemagne  expended  itself 
on  decoration,  in  which  the  band  motifs 
adopted  from  antique  art,  became  Ger- 
manised by  being  imbued  with  greater 
movement  and  by  the  introduction  into 
its  curves  of  plants,  birds  and  animals. 
In  the  decoration  of  weapons,  of  buckles 
and  similar  personal  ornaments,  in  initial 
letters  in  such  manuscripts  as  the  Orosius 
of  the  VIII  century,  these  motifs  are  used 
and  combined  with  originality  and  expressiveness.  Fresh  impetus 
was  given  to  art  as  well  as  to  learning  when  Charlemagne  and 
his  successors  introduced  into  Germany  the  religion  and  some- 
thing of  the  culture  of  the  Roman  world.  Scholars  began  to 
write  books;  Bibles,  Psalters,  Prayer-books  were  copied  or  compiled 
and  illustrated  in  the  cloisters.  The  human  form  began  to  take 
its  place  as  a  subject  for  representation  in  art.  Types  and  composi- 
tion ahke  were,  however,  within  the  hmitations  of  a  very  helpless 
technique,  imitations  of  Early  Christian  or  Byzantine  Art.  But  the 
people  are  characterised  by  an  emotional  intensity  which  expresses 
itself  in  the  movements  of  their  bodies  and  of  their  garments  and  in 
their  animated  gestures.  Thus,  for  example,  in  Charlemagne's  Bible, 
in  Vienna,  the  Evangelist,  a  Byzantine  type,  is  seated  on  a  Byzantine 
throne;  the  hair  is  long,  the  beard  more  pointed  than  we  are  ac- 
customed to  in  antique  art,  the  eyes  abnormally  large,  the  nose 
straight  with  wide  nostrils,  the  mouth  small  with  rather  thick  lower 
lip.  The  upper  part  of  the  body  is  much  too  long  in  proportion  to  the 
lower  half;  the  hands  which  hold  pen  and  book  are  long,  with  fingers 
sharply  curving  back  from  the  first  joint;  the  feet  are  bare,  the  toes 

10 


Evangelist,  Fkom  Cuaulemagnk's  Bible 
bibliotheque  xatioxale,  paris 


Monks  Presenting  to  Emperor  Charles  the  Bald  an  Illuminated  Bible 
bibliotheque  nationals,  paris 


BOOK  ILLUMINATION  11 

curled  inward.  The  drapery  of  the  garment  is  laid  in  folds,  not, 
however,  the  formal,  quiet  folds  of  classic  art,  but  folds  that  curve  and 
twist  in  every  direction,  instinct  with  independent  life  and  motion. 
The  trees  and  reeds  which  form  the  background  also  wave  as  if  tossed 
by  the  wind. 

In  the  Paris  "Gospel"  the  illustrations  show,  in  the  main, 
the  same  characteristics.  The  Emperor  Lothair  is  presented  seated 
upon  his  throne,  the  right  hand  resting  on  his  scepter,  the  left  ex- 
tended, forefinger  raised.  But,  though  seated,  he  seems  to  be 
momentarily  about  to  rise  suddenly  and  the  two  soldiers  in  attend- 
ance behind  the  throne  regard  him  with  great  intensity,  the  expres- 
sion of  their  bodies  one  of  instant  readiness  to  wait  upon  his 
every  movement. 

In  Charles  the  Bald's  Bible  in  the  Bibliothdque  Nationale,  Paris, 
which  is  the  finest  example  of  Carohngian  miniature  painting,  the 
dedication  picture  shows  the  Abbot  and  all  the  monks  of  the  monas- 
tery in  which  the  Bible  was  copied  and  illuminated,  in  excited  at- 
tendance upon  the  ceremony  of  its  presentation  to  the  enthroned 
Emperor,  their  eager  gaze  and  uphfted  hands  expressing  great 
admiration  for  the  handsome  volume. 

The  Bible  illustrations  are,  however,  not  all  so  schematic, 
so  defined  by  precedent.  Occasionally  a  subject  offers  opportunity 
for  naive  naturalness  and  spontaneity  of  treatment.  Thus  the 
Battles  of  King  David  are  pictured  with  Hfe  and  vigour.  The 
army  really  marches,  the  men  on  horseback  are  grim  and  deter- 
mined warriors,  the  horses  really  go.  The  drawing  is  childish, 
the  horses  are  red,  violet,  or  any  colour  the  artist  thinks  would 
look  well  in  his  picture,  but  the  figures  Hve  and  move.  In  all 
the  work  of  this  period  the  drawing  is  untutored  and  unsteady, 
the  colours  applied  locally  without  any  attempt  at  colour  har- 
mony. Gold  is  much  loved  and  lavishly  used,  in  decoration,  as 
a  lining  for  the  garments  and  in  the  writing  itself,  as  in  the  so- 
called  "Codex  Aureus,"  examples  of  which  may  be  seen  in 
Treves,  St.  Gallen,  and  Munich.  The  technical  process  was 
simple  enough;  the  outline  was  drawn,  then  filled  in  with  colour, 
after  which  light  and  shade  were  added  with  little  discrimi- 
nation and  no   mercy;   the  bridge  of  the  nose,   the    eyelids    and 


n  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

knuckles  receiving  sharp,  white  dabs  or  Hnes  of  white,  while  the 
recessions  were  "shadowed'*  with  dark  green.  The  folds  of  the 
garments  were  drawn  with  heavy  black  lines.  The  surface  re- 
ceived a  very  high  finish,  whether  from  the  lustrous  character  of 
the  crayons  used  or  from  the  application  of  a  varnish,  has  not 
yet  been  discovered.  There  was  also  another  process  of  paint- 
ing, which  consisted  in  simply  washing  over  a  pencil  drawing  with 
thin  water-colours  without  any  indication  of  light  and  shade. 

The  field  of  art  was  practically  limited  to  the  illustration  or 
illumination  of  Bibles,  Gospels,  Psalters,  Books  of  the  Mass  and  of 
Prayers.  There  were  also  the  Canonical  Tables  (Canonestafeln) ,  tabu- 
lations of  the  corresponding  passages  from  the  four  Gospels,  which 
permitted  of  an  architectural  design  for  their  setting  or  framing.  In 
a  fragment  of  the  Canonical  Tables  of  St.  Medard  at  Soissons,  dating 
from  about  the  year  827,  we  find  the  parallel  passages  set  in  between 
five  columns  which  support  a  round  arch.  Among  the  leaves  on  the 
capitals  of  the  columns  are  heads  of  animals  and  men  who  are  strain- 
ing to  support  the  weight  of  the  arch  upon  their  shoulders;  on  top  of 
the  arch,  to  the  right  and  left,  are  peacocks  in  full  glory  of 
spread  feathers;  in  the  middle,  on  a  gold  ground,  is  a  round 
medallion  of  an  Evangelist,  which  is  held  up  by  two  winged 
angels  who  accomplish  their  task  only  by  dint  of  much  effort, 
movement  and  intentness.  Very  elaborate  are  the  marginal 
decorations  and  initial  letters  in  these  sacred  books  and  the 
various  motifs — ^vines,  leaves,  blossoms,  birds  and  human  beings — 
are  introduced  with  remarkable  skill  and  naturalness. 

With  the  fall  of  the  Carolingian  dynasty,  Germany  became,  in 
919,  a  really  separate  nation  under  Henry  the  Saxon.  In  this  tenth 
century  a  change  and  development  in  the  character  of  German  art  is 
noticeable.  The  Life  of  Christ  is  presented  in  fuller  detail  and 
although  the  types  of  the  central  figures  continue  to  be  defined  by 
Early  Christian  and  Byzantine  art  traditions,  the  minor  figures 
wear  the  costumes  of  the  period  and  demean  themselves  in  a  natural 
rather  than  a  prescribed  manner.  Indeed  the  artists  seem  to  delight 
in  every  opportunity  to  heighten  the  human  and  characteristic  in 
any  scene.  In  a  representation  of  "Christ  Driving  the  Money- 
changers out  of  the  Temple,"  one  money-changer  stumbles  along 


lOAB.    iX  FtK.C\)  $  Sir  IDOH  INVXL 


The  Battles  of  King  David 
froxm  the  golden  psalter,  st.  gallen 


AipcAf H>i»fe**iSfi*toNJ4.Mvt^  rrAftff  REo^ 


Parable  of  the  Gueat  Suppeu  (Luke  XIV) 

FROM    THE    "ECHTERNACH"    GOSPELS,    DUCAL    LIBRART,    GOTHA 


BOOK  ILLUMINATION  13 

with  a  bird  cage  of  which  the  door  has  been  jarred  open  so  that  the 
birds  are  escaping.  In  a  picture  of  "Christ  taken  Prisoner"  the 
High  Priest's  servant,  whose  ear  has  been  struck  off  by  Peter,  is  wholly 
a  burlesque  figure.  The  figures  of  the  messenger  and  the  cripples,  in 
the  parable  of  the  man  who  gave  a  feast  to  guests  from  the  highways 
and  hedges,  are  presented  with  naive  realism  in  the  Echternach 
Bible,  Gotha,  illuminated  under  that  Archbishop  Egbert  of 
Treves  (977-993)  whose  *' Egbert  Codex"  is  typical  of  the  early 
art  of  western  Germany  and  a  suggestive  forerunner  of  its  later 
art,  as  the  "Vita  Codex"  in  Munich  is  of  the  art  of  eastern 
Germany. 

The  Canonical  Tables,  too,  offered  opportunities  for  the  in- 
troduction of  realistic  scenes,  such  as  common  men  about  the 
day's  work.  Thus  the  construction  of  their  architectural  framing 
was  frequently  held  to  represent  the  building  of  some  cathedral, 
and  such  a  picture  presented  as  that  in  which  the  carpenters  are 
busy  planing  boards  or  are  driving  nails  with  tremendous  expen- 
diture of  energy. 

Very  gradually,  yet  more  and  more  decidedly,  did  Latin  influence 
decline  and  Germanic  national  spirit  assert  itself.  In  the  next  two 
centuries  two  important  political  movements  furthered  this  develop- 
ment of  German  intellectual  independence.  The  bitter  warfare 
between  the  Emperor  Henry  IV  (1055-1106)  and  Pope  Gregory  VII, 
with  the  ensuing  century-long  struggle  between  church  and  state, 
served  to  separate  German  art  from  the  source  of  traditions,  and 
to  leave  it  free  to  follow  its  natural  bent.  For  while,  on  the  one 
hand,  this  struggle  upset  the  peace  of  many  a  cloister  and  interfered 
in  some  measure  with  opportunities  for  scholarship,  it,  on  the  other 
hand,  roused  clergy  and  laity  alike  to  independent  consideration  of 
the  real  basis  of  Christianity,  of  the  foundation  of  Christian  faith 
and  Christian  hope  in  the  life  and  death  of  Christ. 

It  was  doubtless  due  in  part  to  this  revival  of  devotional  feeling, 
in  part  also  to  the  passionate  religious  enthusiasm  of  those  women 
who  in  the  XI  and  XII  centuries  founded  the  cult  of  Mysticism,  that 
the  Passion  of  Christ,  which  had  heretofore  not  received  any  greater 
degree  of  attention  in  art  than  the  other  incidents  of  his  life,  became 
one  of  the  most  frequently  recurring  themes ;  and  whereas  the  earlier 


14  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

representations  of  the  crucifixion  conveyed  nothing  of  suffering 
or  of  exaltation,  but  presented  the  Christ  hanging  upon  the  cross,  or 
calmly  standing  before  it  with  wide  open  eyes,  as  purely  a  symbol, 
they  now  began  to  express  in  some  measure  the  agony  of  the  Sin- 
bearer  and  to  grow  gradually  more  and  more  instinct  with  personal 
interest  in  and  feeling  for  the  suffering  borne. 

The  effect  of  the  struggle  between  the  church  and  the  world  was 
not  confined,  however,  to  the  awakening  of  a  more  universal  and 
individual  interest  in  the  Christian  story.  The  world  asserted  it- 
self— the  German  world — and  literature  and  art  turned  from  exclu- 
sively religious  to  secular  themes.  The  language,  too,  most  com- 
monly used  henceforth  was  the  language  of  the  people.  The  Romance 
of  Rudlieb  about  the  middle  of  the  XI  century  was  the  last  attempt 
to  tell  a  German  story  in  the  Latin  language.  This  movement  at 
once  toward  secular  thought  and  a  new  nationahsm  was  vastly 
furthered  by  the  Crusades.  Those  pilgrimages  to  the  Holy  Land 
were  not  only  great  religious  movements,  they  were  powerful  social 
forces.  From  the  frugal  life  of  their  small  towns  the  German  "War- 
riors of  the  Cross'*  passed  into  the  rich,  luxurious,  colourful  life  of 
the  Orient.  They  were  stirred  by  the  spirit  of  adventure  and  ro- 
mance; notwithstanding  their  religious  fervour  they  were  more  likely 
to  develop  on  the  side  of  worldliness  than  of  asceticism.  Then,  too, 
they  came  into  close  touch  with  the  French  crusaders,  with  their 
higher  degree  of  culture  and  their  already  rich  national  literature, 
and  they  were  spurred  to  emulation.  They  began  to  re-tell  their 
ancient  sagas  in  verse  and  in  pictures.  The  middle  of  the  XII  cen- 
tury saw  the  endeavour  to  unite  old  fragments  into  a  great  epic  in  the 
"Nibelungen  Lied,"  and  this,  too,  in  the  German  Language.  But  not 
only  did  the  Germans  hear  from  the  French  the  stories  of  Charle- 
magne and  his  court  and  of  King  Arthur  and  his  Table  Round,  which 
brought  about  the  translation  of  the  "Song  of  Roland,"  and  inspired  the 
"Tristan"  of  Godfrey  of  Strassburg,  the  "Parsifal"  of  Wolfram  von 
Eschenbach;  they  heard  also  the  skilful  and  charming  songs  of  the 
knightly  troubadours,  and  poets  like  Rudolf  von  Strubenburg,  Wolfram 
von  Eschenbach,  and  Walther  von  der  Vogelweide  adopted  the  manner 
and  sang  their  "Minne-songs"  in  praise  of  love  and  the  beloved. 
And  since  art  was,  for  the  most  part,  concerned  with  book  illustration. 


Scenes  from  the  Life  of  ^neas 

FROM    HEINRICH   VOX   VELDEGKe's    iEXEID,    ROYAL    LIBRARY,   BERLIN 


"Superbia" 

FROM    THE    "pleasure    GARDEn"    BY    HERRAD    VOX   LANDSPERG 


BOOK  ILLUMINATION  15 

the  effect  on  art  was  naturally  the  same  as  on  Hteratnre.  One  of  the 
earliest  combinations  of  the  religious  and  the  profane  in  subject,  as 
well  as  of  the  old  traditions  and  the  new  manner  in  treatment,  was 
the  "Pleasure  Garden"  (Lustgarten,  Hortus  Deliciarum)  compiled 
in  1167  by  the  nun  Herrad  of  Landsperg  for  Abbess  Relindis  of  that 
cloister.  In  this  "Pleasure  Garden"  Herrad  was  commissioned  to 
bring  together  aU  the  learning  of  the  period  concerning  astronomy, 
geography,  philosophy  and  the  other  sciences,  in  conjunction  with 
the  Bible — since,  to  the  Church,  the  sciences  were  still  but  handmaids 
of  theology.  The  illustrations  fill  more  space  than  the  text  and, 
except  in  the  scenes  from  the  Life  of  Christ,  which  are  faithfully  pre- 
sented in  accordance  with  churchly  traditions,  show  such  close  ob- 
servation of  all  details  of  hfe  in  the  homes  and  on  the  streets,  that 
this  "Pleasure  Garden"  is  one  of  our  most  important  sources  of  in- 
formation about  the  hfe  and  manners  of  that  period.* 

To  the  same  period  as  the  "Pleasure  Garden"  belong  two 
works  now  in  the  Royal  Library  in  Berlin,  "The  Song  of  the 
Virgin"  (Das  Lied  von  der  Maget)  with  its  naturalistic  illustrations 
by  Wernher  of  Tegernsee,  which  was  finished  in  1173,  and 
Heinrich  von  Veldegke's  "^neid,"  in  which,  as  it  treats  of  a  purely 
secular  subject,  the  artist  can  freely  follow  his  own  impulses  without 
restraint  from  the  side  of  churchly  traditions.  To  a  somewhat 
later  period,  the  first  half  of  the  XIII  century,  belong  two  works 
of  historic  and  romantic  as  well  as  artistic  interest,  the  Psalterf 
of  the  crusader  Landgrave  of  Thuringia,  with  its  elaborately 
decorated  initials  and  symbolical  illustrations,  and  the  more  richly 
illustrated  Prayerbook  of  St.  Elizabeth,  who  came  to  the  Wartburg 
in  1211,  at  the  age  of  four  years,  to  be  brought  up  as  became 
the  future  wife  of  the  Landgrave's  son,  afterward  Ludwig  IV. 

Passing  over  many  similar  works  of  the  XIII  century  which 
show  no  markedly  different  characteristics,  we  enter  the  century 
which  was  at  once  the  most  prolific  of  all  in  book  illumination  and 

*  The  original  was  burnt  in  the  fire  that  destroyed  Strassburg  Library  in  1870,  but  a  large 
number  of  the  pictures  had  been  traced  off  or  copied  previous  to  that  time,  so  that  we  have  definite 
knowledge  of  them,  in  spite  of  the  loss  of  the  original.  Some  of  the  most  satisfactory  and  access- 
ible copies  are  those  made  by  Count  Bastard,  in  the  National  Library  in  Paris. 

t  Royal  Library,  Stuttgart. 


16  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

the  last  in  which  it  occupied  any  considerable  position  or  was  prac- 
tised to  any  great  extent  as  an  art. 

The  most  important  work  of  the  first  half  of  the  XIV  centm-y  is 
the  "Chronicle  of  the  Pilgrimage  to  Rome  of  the  Emperor  Henry  VII 
and  his  Brother  Balduin."  In  seventy-three  pictures  the  story  of  the 
pilgrimage  is  told  in  great  detail  and  with  the  vividness  of  an  eye  wit- 
ness. The  figures  are  unskilfully  drawn,  the  horses  wooden,  the 
hands  altogether  impossible  in  their  shapes  and  positions,  but  an 
effort  at  individualisation  is  evident,  and  such  a  picture  as  the  "Death 
of  the  Emperor"  is  full  of  expression.  The  technique  is  of  the  sim- 
plest, the  outhnes  are  drawn  in  ink,  the  tinting  is  done  in  water- 
colours. 

Of  great  interest  and  of  a  higher  degree  of  beauty  is  the  "Pas- 
sionale"  compiled  from  Prater  Colda's  "Passionale"  and  illustrated 
by  Canonicus  Benessius  for  Princess  Kunigunde,  daughter  of  King 
Ottokar  of  Bohemia  and  Abbess  of  St.  George's  Cloister  on  the  Hrad- 
schin,  Prague.  The  slender  figures  are  of  a  refinement  which  suggests 
French  influence,  the  drawing  is  clear  and  delicate,  the  pictures 
possess  much  poetic  charm.  The  attitudes  are  reasonable,  the  ac- 
tions full  of  Hfe.  The  Christ  Child  is  hvely  and  natural,  and  such 
scenes  as  those  of  the  Crucifixion  and  Entombment  are  given  with 
fine  feeling. 

The  most  profusely  illustrated  books  of  the  century  were  the 
Picture  Bibles,  known  as  "Armenbibeln" — or  Bibles  for  the  poor 
and  illiterate — which,  with  the  illustrated  books  of  law  and  his- 
torical chronicles,  permit  us  to  follow  closely  the  development  of 
the  various  branches  of  the  art  of  book  illumination. 

But  while  Bibles,  chronicles  and  law  books  were  the  expression 
of  the  masses  of  the  people,  the  upper  classes,  as  we  have  seen,  largely 
through  the  influence  of  their  contact  with  the  more  scholarly  and 
elegant  French  warriors  in  the  Crusades,  had  developed  a  knightly, 
courtly,  poetical  Hterature  of  Minne-song.  Naturally,  illustrated 
collections  of  these  songs  were  made  and  we  find  these  knights  and 
poets  and  the  gracious  ladies  to  whom  they  address  their  Minne-songs 
and  from  whom  they  receive  the  laurel,  pictured  in  the  twenty-five 
illustrations  in  the  Weingartner  Codex  which  was  compiled  about 
1280  near  Constance,  and  is  now  in  the  Library  of  the  King  of  Wuert- 


From  the  Mnnessian  Codex 


Minnesingers 
heidelberg  universitv  library 


BOOK  ILLUMINATION  17 

tenberg,  and  in  the  one  hundred  and  forty-one  illustrations  of  the 
Manessian  Codex  in  Heidelberg  University  Library,  compiled  about 
the  end  of  the  XIII  century.  The  representations  are  without  depth, 
yet  not  without  a  certain  charm.  French  influence  is  marked  in  the  — — 
softer  lines,  the  greater  refinement  of  form  and  feature,  the  more 
graceful  disposition  of  the  folds  of  the  garments.  The  types  are  at 
the  same  time  more  courtly  and  more  effeminate.  The  ideal  for  men 
and  women  alike  is  a  small  head,  rounded  forehead,  arched  nose, 
small,  full-hpped  mouth,  round  and  dimpled  chin,  narrow  shoulders 
and  slender  hips.  It  is  a  type  childish,  immature,  appeahng.  The 
servants  are  carefully  distinguished  from  their  masters  by  being 
made  small  and  undersized;  so,  for  instance,  the  two  who  are  ar- 
guing almost  under  the  horses'  hoofs  in  the  "Herzog  Heinrich" 
in  the  Manessian  Codex.  Similar  in  content,  illustrated  with  pic- 
tures of  battles  and  of  tournaments  watched  by  lovely  ladies  from 
the  castle  walls  is  the  codex  in  Cassel  done  by  Wilhelm  of  Oranse  in  ^—^ 
1334  and  containing  thirty-five  finished  and  twenty-five  unfinished 
illustrations. 

French  influence  was  especially  marked  in  Prague  where  Karl  X  ^ 
IV,  who  had  been  educated  at  the  court  of  Valois,  became  King  of 
Bohemia  in  1333,  founded  the  first  school  of  painting  in  Germany 
and  gave  considerable  impetus  to  the  art  of  book  illumination.  The 
chief  work  of  his  reign  was  the  Breviary  of  the  Imperial  Chancellor,  X 
Johann  of  Neumarkt,  Bishop  of  Leitomisch  from  1353  to  1364, 
which  is  now  in  the  Bohemian  Museum,  Prague.  Among  the  charac- 
teristically French  touches  are  the  introduction  of  Gothic  features  in 
the  architecture,  and  of  the  "Dr61eries"  so  beloved  in  France — those 
joyous,  satirical  or  fantastic  scenes  introduced  in  miniature  behind 
the  curving  vines  of  the  ornamental  work. 

Written  in  the  Czech  language  was  the  "Manual  of  Christian  ><~ 
Verities'*  (Lehrbuch  der  Christlichen  Wahrheiten),  in  the  Univer- 
sity Library,  Prague,   which    was  illustrated  by  Thomas  Stitny, 
who  died  about  1400.     The  types  are  more  vigorous  and  poses 
much  more  natural  and  expressive  than  in  the  earher  works. 

For  Emperor  Karl's  son  and  successor,  Wenzel,  Willehalm  of  p^ 
Oranse  illustrated,  in   1387,  the  Bible  which  is  now  in  the  Am- 
bras  Collection,  Vienna,  in  which  the  pictures  are,  in  the  main. 


18  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

amazingly  worldly  in  character,   as  are  those  in  Wenzel's  six-vol- 
.^  -  ume  German  Bible  in   the  Imperial  Library.     King   Wenzel  was 
possessed  by  a  great  love  for  a  maiden  who  was  an  attendant  at 
the  baths,  and  she  figures  with  the  King  in  every  possible  scene 
^  in  the  pictures  in  these  Bibles. 
7^  In  Austria,  in  1386,  Johann  of  Troppau  finished  a  Bible*  for 

Archduke  Albrecht  I,  in  which  the  men  and  women  are  of  much 
beauty  and  charm.  Of  still  greater  interest  is  the  German  transla- 
tion of  the  "Durandi  rationale  divinorum  officiorum,"  begun  in  1384, 
illustrated  by  one  Hans  Sachs,  a  master  who  enjoyed  great  fame  in 
Vienna  as  "Painter  to  the  nobly-born  Prince  Albert  of  Austria." 
The  figures,  often  very  small,  are  drawn  with  great  surety;  lightly 
draped,  they  show  careful  modelHng,  while  the  heads  express  in  each 
case  distinct  individuality.  The  ornamental  work  is  elaborate  and 
very  beautiful;  the  brush  is  handled  in  quite  the  manner  of  the  easel 
painter  and  effects  a  treatment  which  is  broad  yet  fine. 

But  with  the  close  of  the  XIV  century,  book  illumination  ceased 
yj  to  hold  its  place  as  the  chief  of  the  arts.     Painting  ceased  to  be  con- 

fined to  the  monasteries  and  became  a  worldly  vocation,  and  the 
energies  of  the  painters  were  expended  on  altars  and  portraits. 
After  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  the  invention  of  print- 
ing did  away  with  the  necessity  for  the  slow  copying  of  books 
by  the  monks,  and  for  the  elucidation  of  the  text  or  the  beauti- 
fying of  these  printed  books  engravings,  etchings,  woodcuts  and 
drawings  took  the  place  of  the  painter's  illuminations. 

*  Vienna  Imperial  Library. 


1.  Isolde  and  Brag'ane  Meeting  Tristan  in  the  Garden.     2.  Figures  from  the  Bathroom 

FRESCOES,    RUNKELSTEIN   CASTLE 


CHAPTER  III 

FRESCO-PAINTING 

FROM  THE  IX  TO  THE  XIV  CENTURY 

F.RALLEL  to  book  illustration  the  art  of  fresco-painting 
developed,  though  the  number  and  extent  of  the  frescoes 
remaining  to  us  are  comparatively  Hmited. 
We  find  it  recorded  that,  as  early  as  the  IX  century,  the  Em- 
peror Charlemagne  caused  the  dome  of  his  church. in  Aix-la-Chapelle 
to  be  decorated  with  mosaics,  bringing  in,  doubtless,  ItaUan  artists 
to  do  the  work.  In  Carolingian  times,  too,  the  cloister  church  in 
Fulda  was  decorated  by  one  of  the  monks  with  frescoes  on  a  dark 
blue  ground.  Very  interesting  must  have  been  the  frescoes  painted 
in  the  Castle  at  Ingleheim  in  the  reign  of  Louis  the  Pious.  In  the 
chapel  were  pictured,  on  the  one  side,  scenes  from  the  Old  Testament, 
on  the  other,  scenes  from  the  Life  of  Christ,  while  in  the  great  hall 
were  the  deeds  of  famous  pagan  and  Christian  heroes.  In  this 
series,  also,  Charlemagne's  descent  was  traced  from  Constantine 
the  Great.  Unfortunately  these  have  all  suffered  destruction  in 
the  course  of  the  centuries. 

The  earhest  frescoes  remaining  to  us  date  from  about  the  year 
1000  and  are  in  St.  George's  Church  in  Oberzell  on  Reichenau  Is- 
land. These  represent  in  eight  pictures  the  miracles  of  Christ: 
the  Raising  of  Lazarus,  Raising  of  the  Daughter  of  Jairus,  Bringing 
to  Life  of  the  Son  of  the  W^idow  of  Nain,  Healing  of  a  Leper,  Driving 
out  of  Devils,  Healing  of  the  Paralytic,  Stilhng  of  the  Storm  at  Sea, 
Restoring  of  Sight  to  the  Blind;  then  the  Crucifixion  and  the  Last 
Judgment.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  Christ  in  these  frescoes  ^ 
is  the  beardless  Christ  of  Early  Christian  Art,  as  in  the  Catacombs; 
the  Apostles  and  Saints  are  of  the  types  found  in  the  mosaics,  with 
inexpressive  countenances  and  staring  eyes,  but  they  all  are  in  mo- 
tion and  gesticulating.  The  garments  are,  in  the  main,  of  antique 
fashion,  though  occasionally  secondary  personages  appear  in  the 
costume  of  the  period.    The  colours  are  Hght  and  without  glaze. 

19 


20  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

In  the  years  between  1151  and  1156  were  painted  the  frescoes 
in  the  double  church  at  Schwarzrheindorf  near  Bonn.  The  church 
is  a  beautiful,  small  building  in  Romanesque  style  (the  spire  is  new) 
with,  on  the  outside,  a  gallery  on  which  the  student  may  walk  around 
the  chiu-ch  and  observe  the  graceful  row  of  small  columns  with 
carved  capitals  in  different  designs  of  leaves  and  animals.  Inside,  it 
is  divided  into  two  storeys,  like  the  Church  of  St.  Francis  at 
Assisi,  which  was  built  a  century  later  in  the  Gothic  manner. 
The  lower  church  was  the  common  assembling  room  of  all  the  people 
for  the  mass;  in  its  ceiling  is  an  hexagonal  opening  through  which 
the  nuns,  who  sat  in  seclusion  in  the  upper  church,  might  see  and 
hear  the  service.  The  pictures  on  the  walls  and  ceihng  of  the  lower 
church  represent  scenes  from  Ezekiel's  Vision  of  the  corruption  of 
Jerusalem  and  the  judgments  to  come  upon  her  for  her  sins;  those 
in  the  upper  church,  the  Vision  of  St.  John  on  Patmos,  with  the 
New  Jerusalem  which  was  opened  before  him  in  that  vision.  The 
frescoes  are  done  on  blue  ground  and  are,  even  in  their  present 
carefully  restored  condition,  very  decorative  in  Hne  and  colour. 
The  people  all  wear  the  traditional  robes  and  are  not  individual- 
ised in  any  degree,  but  all  look  alike,  save  that  some  wear  beards 
while  the  majority  do  not.  Great  minuteness  of  characterisation 
is,  indeed,  hardly  to  be  expected  at  so  early  a  date  as  a  century 
before  Cimabue  painted  his  frescoes  in  the  church  at  Assisi.  The 
bodies  are  flat  and  undetached  from  the  background  and  are,  in 
many  cases,  set  in  the  various  triangular  spaces  in  poses  no 
human  being  could  possibly  assume.  Yet  the  attitudes,  gestures 
and  movements  are,  on  the  whole,  exceedingly  expressive.  The 
bearded  prophet  doubled  over  in  the  sleep  in  which  there  comes 
to  him  the  vision  of  a  wheel  with  a  man  therein  is  unmistakably 
sound  asleep;  the  youthful  looking,  beardless  man  making  a  hole 
in  the  wall  of  the  city  with  a  pick  conveys  by  his  attitude  great 
eagerness  to  see  what  is  on  the  other  side,  while  on  that  other 
side,  the  idolators  swinging  censers  before  all  sorts  of  fish  and  reptile 
abominations  do  so  with  intense  fervour  of  gesture  though  with  ex- 
pressionless faces.  Ezekiel,  who  has  cut  off  a  lock  of  his  hair  with 
his  knife,  weighed  it  in  the  balances,  consigned  a  fourth  to  the  wind, 
a  fourth  to  the  sword  and  a  fourth  to  the  flames,  gathers  up  the  re- 


■^mi 


(- */t' 


W      K 


2    ^ 


CQ 


a  2 


a 


>  ? 


FRESCO-PAINTING  21 

mainder  in  his  garment  with  an  expression  of  most  sentimental 
tenderness. 

In  the  arches  of  the  transepts  are  scenes  from  the  Life  of  Christ. 
In  the  "Driving  out  the  Money-changers  from  the  Temple'*  the  idea 
of  an  inside  room  is  conveyed  by  a  gate  or  door  through  which 
one  of  the  expelled  is  being  urged,  bearing  his  scales  in  one  hand,  the 
other  upraised  in  protest.  In  the  "Transfigm-ation"  the  disciples  are 
most  curiously  crumpled  up  on  the  ground  as  if  wholly  overcome  by 
the  revelation.  The  "Crucifixion"  presents  Christ,  the  Virgin  and  St. 
John,  and,  contrary  to  custom  in  the  mural  paintings  of  the  period, 
which  usually  content  themselves  with  the  small  symbolic  group  of 
three,  introduces  Longinus  and  Stef aton — the  man  with  the  vinegar 
sponge — and  also  three  inactive  though  interested  onlookers.  The 
Crucified  is  presented  according  to  Byzantine  tradition,  his  body 
draped,  his  feet  nailed  separately  to  the  cross. 

On  the  walls  of  the  transept  are  pictiu*es  of  Emperors  and  Kings 
of  the  period. 

The  decorative  bands  of  leaves  and  birds  separating  the  story- 
telling sections  are  of  great  beauty  of  design  and  colour. 

The  frescoes  in  the  upper  church  possess  much  less  character 
and  interest  than  those  in  the  lower  church.  In  the  apse  is  shown 
the  New  Jerusalem,  in  the  midst  of  which  Christ  is  seated  on  his 
throne,  which  is  upheld  by  the  founders  of  the  church,  Bishop  Arnold 
and  his  sister.  Around  the  throne  are  the  martyrs  and  the  symbols 
of  the  four  Evangelists.  In  the  arch  above,  Christ  is  again  pictured 
surrounded  by  apostles,  martyrs  and  saints.  On  the  left  wall  of  the 
apse  is  St.  John,  physically  on  Patmos,  spiritually  at  the  guarded  gate 
of  heaven  marked  Portarius,  gazing  at  the  figure  of  the  Christ  which 
is  revealed  to  him  in  a  burst  of  flame. 

Somewhat  later,  dating  from  about  1180,  are  the  frescoes  in 
the  ceihng  of  the  former  Chapter  House,  now  a  reformatory,  in  Brau- 
weiler  near  Cologne,  illustrating  the  eleventh  chapter  of  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews  and  legends  of  martyrs  and  saints;  as  Mary  Magda- 
lene and  the  repentant  thief  who  was  pardoned  on  the  cross,  Daniel 
and  St.  Thekla  closing  the  mouth  of  the  lion;  Cyprian  the  Sorcerer 
and  St.  Justine  quenching  the  fire;  St.  JEmihan  unhurt  by  the  sharp 


22  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

sword;  Samson,  Peter,  Stephen  and  the  others  who  triumphed  through 
faith. 

Belonging  to  the  same  period  are  the  "Ten  Apostles"  in  the  Church 
of  St.  Cunibert  and  the  very  badly  damaged  remains  of  paintings  in 
the  crypt  of  Sta.  Maria  in  Capitol,  in  Cologne.  Considerably  in 
advance  of  these  technically  are  the  XIII  century  figures  of 
saints  with  the  Emperor  Henry  II  and  Bishop  Engelbert  in  the 
Baptismal  Chapel  in  St.  Gereon's  Church  in  Cologne,  in  which,  in 
spite  of  their  defacement,  the  forms  possess  a  certain  stateliness. 
The  garments  hang  in  full,  curiously  massed  and  broken  folds, 
rather  like  piles  of  material  than  like  draped  robes. 

The  frescoes  in  the  Church  of  St.  Mary  in  Lyskirchen,  Cologne, 
painted  about  1280,  have  been  thoroughly  restored.  They  present 
scenes  from  the  life  of  Christ,  from  the  life  of  St.  Nicholas  and  from 
the  martyrdom  of  various  saints.  Most  of  the  forms  are  typical; 
some  few  show  an  attempt  at  individualisation,  but  it  is  diflBcult  to 
say  how  much  of  this  is  original,  how  much  the  contribution  of  the 
restorer. 
V  In  Cologne  Cathedral  are  frescoes  in  the  choir  stalls  which  date 

from  shortly  after  1322.  On  the  Gospel  side,  which  was  the  Pope's 
side,  are  scenes  from  the  legends  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Sylvester;  on 
the  Epistle  side,  which  was  the  Emperor's  side,  the  "Adoration  of  the 
Three  Kings."  Below  these  are  pointed  arcades,  in  which  are,  on  the 
one  side,  bishops,  on  the  other,  emperors,  in  statuesque  poses.  Above 
the  pointed  arches,  on  a  reddish  brown  background,  are  introduced 
drdleries  such  as  we  meet  with  in  book  illustrations — gay  little 
figures  looking  out  from  among  vines,  with,  below  them,  a  sort  of 
frieze  of  inscriptions  with  decorative  initials.  These  frescoes  are  in 
tempera  and  are  painted  almost  directly  on  the  stone  work.  Un- 
fortunately they  are  now  draped  with  tapestries  and  are  therefore 
inaccessible. 

A  little  later  than  these  frescoes  in  Cologne  Cathedral,  but  still 
in  the  first  half  of  the  XIV  century,  frescoes  were  painted  in 
the  church  in  Ramersdorf  in  the  Seven  Mountains  near  Bonn,  which 
have  been  destroyed,  but  of  which  a  good  idea  may  be  gained  from 
the  aquarell  copies  in  the  Berlin  Print  Room.  In  the  chancel  were 
scenes  from  the  Life  of  Christ;  on  the  arches,  God  the  Father  as 


FRESCO-PAINTING  23 

Creator  of  the  world  with  the  four  signs  of  the  elements.  In  the 
arches  of  the  nave  were  represented  the  Coronation  of  the  Virgin, 
with  music-making  angels  and  St.  Michael  and  the  Dragon;  in  the 
arches  of  the  aisles,  St.  Elizabeth,  St.  Catherine  and  the  Last  Judg- 
ment. Christ  is  presented  as  judge  of  the  world,  on  either  side  are 
the  Virgin  and  St.  John  and  angels  bearing  the  instruments  of  his 
Passion.  On  his  right  are  the  just,  on  his  left  the  unjust,  among 
whom  are  many  nuns  and  monks,  knights,  princes  and  fine  ladies. 
Abraham  receives  the  souls  of  the  just  and  Satan  the  souls  of  the 
wicked.  The  forms  are  of  exaggerated  slenderness  and  very  flexible 
in  line,  the  heads  too  small  in  proportion  to  the  bodies,  the  arms  and 
legs  very  thin,  the  faces  round,  the  hair  wavy.  The  folds  of  the 
garments  are  soft  and  often  quite  beautiful  in  draping.  The  music- 
making  angels  are  winsome,  the  innocence  and  gentleness  of  the  saints 
are  most  appealing,  but  the  characterisation  of  the  wicked  was  quite 
beyond  the  artist's  powers. 

In  WestphaUa,  the  oldest  frescoes,  painted  in  1166,  are  in  St. 
Patroclus*  Cathedral  in  Soest  and  present  Christ,  in  heroic  size,  en- 
throned, surrounded  by  apostles  with  the  Virgin  and  St.  John.  A 
frieze  with  half-length  pictures  of  saints  divides  this  scene  from  a 
series  of  emperors  enthroned  under  baldachins.  The  figures  are  of 
great  dignity,  the  garments  hang  in  simple  folds. 

The  mural  paintings  in  St.  Nicholas'  Chapel  in  Soest  date  from 
the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century.  They  represent  Christ,  the 
Twelve  Apostles  and  Saints. 

To  the  same  period  belong  the  frescoes  in  the  church  at  Methler 
near  Dortmund,  representing  Christ  enthroned,  the  Annunciation, 
Peter  and  Paul  and  two  other  saints.  The  figures  of  Christ,  Peter 
and  Paul  are  those  with  which  we  are  famihar  in  mosaic  art;  but  in 
the  Annunciation  the  types  are  strangely  Jewish,  the  eyes,  though 
round,  are  not  staring,  the  hair  is  tossed,  the  movements  are  sudden, 
the  folds  of  the  garments  restless. 

To  the  latter  part  of  the  XIII  century  belongs  the  now  thor- 
oughly restored  picture  in  the  transept  of  the  Cathedral  in  Miin- 
ster,  which  commemorates  the  subjection  of  the  Frisians  to  the 
spiritual  power  of  the  Bishop  of  Miinster  in  1270.  The  fresco 
has    been    so   restored    that   nothing    of    the   original   remains   to 


24  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

us  but  the  composition.  In  the  middle  is  the  patron  saint  of  the 
Cathedral,  St.  Paul,  whom  groups  of  Frisian  peasants  approach, 
bearing  gifts  of  eggs,  lambs,  horses,  and  other  tribute. 

In  Saxony,  in  the  Neuwerkkirche  in  Goslar,  the  fresco  in  the 
apse  was  painted  about  the  time  the  church  was  built,  in  1186;  but 
has  been  thoroughly  restored.  It  represents  the  Virgin  enthroned, 
surrounded  by  seven  doves,  which  represent  the  seven  gifts  of  the 
Spirit,  and  holding  on  her  knee  the  Christ  Child,  while  St.  Peter  and 
St.  Paul  and  two  angels  kneel  in  worship  before  her.* 

To  the  same  period  belongs  the  "Death  of  the  Virgin"  in  the  en- 
trance hall  of  the  Wiedenkirche  in  Weida,  and  also  the  "Virgin  and 
Child  with  Four  Apostles,"  in  the  Chapel  of  the  Liebfrauenkirche, 
Halberstadt.  The  frescoes  in  the  church  itself  are  much  later,  dat- 
ing from  about  1280. 

The  most  imposing  mural  paintings  in  Saxony  are  those  in  the 
choir  of  the  Cathedral  in  Brunswick,  which  is  a  veritable  Picture- 
Bible.  They  have  undergone  restoration  so  thoroughly  that  any 
very  definite  estimate  of  the  original  types  and  colouring  is  not  pos- 
sible. Schnaase  records  of  them  in  his  History  that  "the  figures 
originally  were  done  in  outline  lightly  filled  with  colour  and  possessed 
none  of  the  hard  brilliance  restoration  has  given  them."  The  con- 
ceptions and  composition  are,  however,  most  interesting;  and  though, 
in  the  bright  daylight  of  the  nave,  the  pillars  and  remains  of  figures 
restored  are  garish,  in  the  gloom  of  the  choir  the  colour  effect  is  one 
of  great  beauty.  The  frescoes  on  the  ceiling  represent,  on  a  blue 
ground,  the  Genealogical  Tree  of  Christ,  springing  from  its  root  in 
Jesse,  and  growing  so  as  to  form  a  frame  for  the  enthroned  Madonna 
of  Byzantine  type.  In  the  upper  sections  of  the  walls  are  scenes  from 
the  Old  Testament:  The  Sacrifices  of  Cain  and  Abel,  Abel's  Murder, 
Moses  in  the  Burning  Bush,  The  Brazen  Serpent,  and  Moses  Receiv- 
ing the  Ten  Commandments,  which  here  are  written,  not  on  tables, 
but  on  a  parchment  roll.  Below  these,  in  horizontal  rows,  scenes 
from  the  legends  of  the  patron  saints  of  the  Cathedral,  St.  John,  St. 
Blasius  and  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury,  are  given  in  great  detail. 

*  The  interesting  frescoes  in  the  Rathaua  in  Goslar  date  from  the  XVI  century  and  are  attrib- 
uted in  ancient  chronicles  to  Michael  Wolgemut,  in  connection  with  whose  works  they  will  be 
considered. 


Frescoes  in  the  Apse  of  Brunswick  Cathedral 


FRESCO-PAINTING  25 

The  ceiling  of  the  crossing  is  enclosed,  as  it  were,  by  a  wall, 
which  represents  the  wall  of  the  Heavenly  Jerusalem  and  in  each 
of  the  twelve  towers  of  which  stands  an  apostle.  Within  the  en- 
closed field  are  pictured  the  Nativity,  Presentation  in  the  Temple, 
the  Marys  at  the  Grave,  the  Walk  to  Emmaus,  the  Supper  at 
Emmaus  and  the  Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  In  the  small 
wedge-shaped  spaces  outside  the  city  wall  are  prophets. 

In  the  southern  transept  are  represented  the  martyrdom  of  St. 
Blasius  and  the  miracles  wrought  by  his  blood  which  was  treasured 
by  seven  holy  women  who,  in  their  turn,  suffered  martyrdom;  the 
wise  and  foolish  virgins,  quite  beautiful  and  appealing  figures;  the 
finding  of  the  cross  by  St.  Helena  and  various  acts  of  her  son, 
the  Emperor  Constantine.  In  the  vaulting  are  pictured  Christ 
and  the  Virgin  enthroned,  surrounded  by  angels,  prophets  and 
saints. 

Undoubtedly  the  painting  of  so  many  pictures  was  not  all  done 
at  one  time  but  extended  over  a  period  from  the  beginning  to  the 
middle  of  the  XIII  century.  The  pictures  in  the  north  transept  are 
modern,  dating  from  the  time  of  the  restoration  of  the  Cathedral 
frescoes  in  the  XIX  century. 

There  are  no  church  frescoes  in  the  south  of  Germany  equal  in 
importance  to  those  in  the  Rhineland  and  Saxony.  The  most  im- 
portant early  Bavarian  frescoes  are  those  which  have  come  to  the 
National  Museum  in  Munich  from  Cloister  Rebdorf.  They  pic- 
ture scenes  from  the  Hfe  of  Daniel. 

In  the  chapel  of  the  Castle  at  Forchheim,  near  Bamberg,  are 
remains  of  frescoes  representing  the  Annunciation,  Adoration  of  the 
Magi,  and  Last  Judgment,  in  which  the  types  pictured  are  not  lacking 
in  beauty  and  grace. 

In  the  crypt  of  Basel  Cathedral  are  preserved  frescoes  dating 
from  the  middle  of  the  XIV  century  and  representing  scenes  from 
the  Uves  of  Christ,  the  Virgin  and  St.  Margaret.  There  is  no  model- 
ling, no  body  to  the  figures  nor  depth  to  the  space;  the  flesh  tones 
are  very  white,  the  outhnes  drawn  heavily  and  washed  in  thinly  with 
colour. 

In  Austria,  the  church  on  the  Nonnenberg,  Salzburg,  pos- 
sesses frescoes  of  youthful  saints,  from  the  XII  century,  which. 


26  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

like  the  "Adoration  of  the  Magi"  in  the  Stiftskirche  in  Lambach, 
present  the  types  famiHar  to  us  in  Early  Christian  mosaic  art. 
The  frescoes  in  the  cloisters  of  the  Cathedral  in  Brixen,  by  the 
Master  of  the  Scorpion,  Jacob  Sunter  and  others,  belong  to  the 
middle  of  the  XV  century  and  will  be  spoken  of  in  connection 
with  the  masters  to  whom  they  are  attributed. 

The  most  beautiful  frescoes  in  the  South  are  those  in  the  chapel 
in  Gurk,  Karnten,  painted  on  a  former  nuns'  choir  over  the  entrance 
wall.  The  painter  has  constructed  with  considerable  fineness  and 
elaboration  an  architectural  arcade  within  which  is  seated  the  Vir- 
gin holding  the  Child  and  surrounded  by  the  Virtues,  the  Gifts  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  the  Prophets  and  winged  Genii.  These  pictures  date 
from  about  the  middle  of  the  XIII  century  and  betray  French  in- 
fluence in  the  same  degree  as  the  book  illuminations  of  the  period. 
The  fine  oval  of  the  faces,  the  softness  of  the  ringleted  hair,  the  ten- 
derness of  expression,  the  delicacy  of  ornament,  together  with  the 
light  colouring,  lend  them  an  unusual  degree  of  charm. 

In  this  chapel  are,  further,  scenes  from  the  Old  Testament  repre- 
senting the  Creation  of  Eve,  the  Fall  of  Man,  Jacob's  Ladder;  from 
the  New  Testament,  the  Three  Kings,  the  Triumphal  Entry  into 
Jerusalem,  the  Transfiguration  and  Paradise.  A  frieze  introduces 
medallions  of  saints.  The  remaining  spaces  are  filled  with  apostles, 
angels  and  decorative  bands  of  flowers  and  leaves. 

A  sort  of  transition  from  the  fresco  to  the  altar-piece  is 
marked  by  the  painting  of  the  wooden  ceilings  of  the  Roman- 
esque basilicas.  Two  famous  monuments  of  this  kind  of  painting 
are  preserved  in  Germany,  the  ceiling  of  the  church  in  Zillis  and 
that  of  St.  Michael's  Church  in  Hildesheim. 

The  paintings  in  Zillis  date  from  the  beginning  of  the  XII 
century.  The  ceiling  is  divided  into  one  hundred  and  fifty-three 
square  sections,  which  are  enclosed  by  ornamental  bands  of  leaves. 
The  scenes  represented  in  the  sections  are  from  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments. 

Much  nobler  and  more  beautiful  are  the  paintings  on  the  ceil- 
ing of  St.  Michael's,  Hildesheim,  which  date  from  1186.  The 
middle  of  the  ceiling  is  divided  into  eight  large  sections;  the  back- 
ground is  blue.     The  chief  subject  is  the  Genealogical  Tree  of  Christ 


FRESCO-PAINTING  27 

growing  out  of  the  sleeping  Jesse,  below  whom  are  Adam  and  Eve 
in  the  act  of  yielding  to  temptation  and  bringing  sin  into  the  world. 
Following  upon  Jesse,  in  the  large  sections,  are  David  and  three 
other  kings,  the  Virgin  Mary  and,  in  the  eighth  and  last  section, 
Christ  enthroned,  bearing  a  tablet  on  which  is  inscribed  "Alpha  and 
Omega" — "The  First  and  the  Last."  Other  ancestors  of  Christ 
are  presented  in  the  small  oblong  sections  which  are  set  around  the 
outside  of  the  main  divisions;  still  others  are  in  the  medallions  which 
form  a  sort  of  frame  to  the  rest  of  the  ceiling.  In  the  lowest  of  the 
small  sections  are  symbolic  representations  of  the  four  rivers  of 
Paradise  and  the  four  cardinal  virtues;  in  the  extreme  corners  of  the 
ceiling  are  the  symbols  of  the  four  evangelists.  The  figures  possess 
much  dignity;  their  movements  are  given  with  unexpected  natural- 
ness, their  uniform  mental  attitude  is  one  of  great  earnestness. 

Of  secular  frescoes,  the  most  important  are  to  be  found  in  Rimk- 
elstein  Castle  near  Botzen,  in  Tyrol.  They  were  painted  in  the  lat- 
ter half  of  the  XIV  century  for  Nicholas  Vintler,  whose  coat-of-arms 
several  times  appears  in  them.  Upon  entering  the  court  of  the  pic- 
turesque old  castle  on  an  isolated  rock  in  a  ravine,  sheltered  by 
towering  mountains,  looking  down  upon  a  rushing  river,  there  can 
be  seen,  on  the  rear  wall  of  a  balcony  along  the  second  storey,  several 
groups  of  three  figures  each,  consisting  of  the  greatest  pagan  heroes 
(Hector,  Alexander,  Caesar);  the  greatest  Jewish  heroes  (Joshua, 
David,  Judas  Maccabbeus);  the  greatest  Christian  kings  (Arthur, 
Charlemagne,  Godfrey  of  Bouillon);  the  noblest  knights  (Parsifal, 
Gawain,  Iwein);  the  most  devoted  pairs  of  lovers  (Wilhelm  of  Aus- 
tria and  Aglei,  Tristan  and  Isolde,  Wilhelm  of  Orleans  and  Amelie) ; 
the  most  famous  wielders  of  the  sword  (Theodoric  of  Bern  with  Sachs, 
Sigfrid  with  Balmung,  Ditlib  of  Steur  with  Welsung) ;  the  strongest 
giants  (Asperan,  Otnit,  Struthan) ;  the  most  powerful  women  (Hilda, 
Vodelgart,  Frau  Rachin).  These  heroic  figures  are  interesting, 
despite  the  fact  that  they  have  suffered  from  the  weather  and  also 
from  restoration.  They  are  all  painted  above  a  wainscoting  except 
the  giants,  who,  in  order  to  convey  the  idea  of  their  enormous  size, 
are  made  to  reach  all  the  way  from  the  floor. 

Off  this  balcony  opens  a  room  on  the  walls  of  which  are  badly 
damaged  frescoes  of  scenes  from  Arthur's  Court  and  the  Quest  of 


28  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

the  Holy  Grail;  off  this,  the  "Women's  Room"  with  the  story  of 
Tristan  and  Isolde  told  in  minutest  detail.  Very  full  of  force  is  the 
figure  of  Tristan  as,  in  full  armour,  with  plumed  helmet,  he  swings  his 
sword  to  slay  the  fallen  Marold.  Of  much  beauty  and  grace  is  that 
of  Isolde  in  the  moment  of  finding  the  exhausted  Tristan,  after  his 
fight  with  the  dragon;  very  expressive  of  the  surreptitious,  clandes- 
tine nature  of  their  errand  the  crouching  forms  of  Isolde  and  Bra- 
gane  as,  going  through  the  garden  to  meet  Tristan,  they  pass  under 
the  very  oHve  tree  in  which  King  Mark  and  Melot  are  sitting,  by  no 
means  concealed  from  us.  We  know  that  it  is  night,  for  in  the  wild 
and  cloudy  sky  is  a  new  moon. 

The  figures  are  done  in  green  with  white  lights  and  stand  out 
with  fine  detachment  from  the  background.  Indeed  the  detach- 
ment is,  in  some  cases,  so  remarkable,  the  heads  so  expressive  and 
the  garments  so  skilfully  draped,  that  it  seems  probable  that  these 
features  developed,  in  some  measure,  in  the  restoration  of  the  pic- 
tures which  was  undertaken  1506-1508,  at  the  command  of  the  Em- 
peror Maximilian,  by  Friedrich  Lebenbacher  and  finished  by  Martin 
Reichlich. 

The  Neidhardt  Hall  gives  an  interesting  picture  of  the  life  of  the 
lords  and  ladies  of  the  XIV  century.  In  one  picture  the  men  are 
hunting;  in  another  a  tournament  is  in  progress;  a  third  reveals  a 
group  of  lords  and  ladies  playing  ball  in  the  shade  of  a  grove  of  con- 
ventionalised trees;  in  yet  another  a  stately  dance  is  in  progress. 
The  people  all  wear  the  costume  of  the  period.  The  men  are  slim  and 
elegant  in  very  tight-fitting  doublets  and  hose,  with  small  waist,  bell 
sleeves  and  exceedingly  long  and  pointed  shoes.  They  wear  long 
mustaches  and  pointed  beards — indeed  the  whole  effect  is  exagger- 
atedly gothic.  The  women  are  the  same  height  as  the  men,  their 
gowns  are  cut  straight  and  long,  their  waists  are  small,  their  shoul- 
ders sloping.  AH  have  round  faces  with  short  chins,  high,  wide  fore- 
heads and  red-gold  hair.  Though  all  are  full  of  life  and  display  much 
interest  in  the  business  in  hand,  no  one  is  sharply  characterised  ex- 
cept the  stout  lady  with  her  hair  in  two  heavy  braids,  wearing  a  dark 
red  dress  and  large  hat,  who  is  taken  direct  from  life  and  is  a  humor- 
ous, almost  comic  figure. 

The  bathroom  contains  the  most  valuable  remains  of  the  old 


<   < 


FRESCO-PAINTING  29 

paintings.  The  walls  are  painted  in  a  tapestry  pattern,  with  a  red 
ground  embroidered,  as  it  were,  with  conventionahsed  animals  and 
birds.  At  the  top  is  a  frieze  in  two  sections.  The  upper  section  is 
filled  with  men  and  women  set  in  medallions  in  the  attitudes  of 
standing,  sitting  or  kneeling.  The  lower  section  represents  a  hall 
with  round  arches  out  of  each  of  which  a  person  is  advancing  to  the 
slender  painted  railing  which  divides  this  hall  from  the  pool.  All 
the  draped  figures  are  attired  in  the  extreme  of  fashion.  Some  are 
standing  quietly,  leaning  against  the  raihng;  others  appear,  from 
their  gestures,  to  be  engaged  in  conversation;  one  is  using  the 
raihng  as  an  athlete  would  the  parallel  bars;  another  is  seated  on 
it  with  careless  freedom,  his  back  turned  toward  us.  The  people 
standing  in  the  arches  of  the  west  wall  have  divested  themselves 
of  their  garments  and  are  ready  to  step  into  the  bath.  A  woman 
has  one  foot  aheady  over  the  raihng,  but  has  paused  a  moment, 
her  head  in  her  hand,  lost  in  thought.  A  very  sprightly  young 
person,  who  manifests  much  pleasure  in  anticipation  of  the  re- 
freshing bath,  is  in  the  act  of  swinging  over  the  railing.  The 
south  wall  is  given  over  to  various  animals  which  disport  them- 
selves on  the  raihng.  Even  in  the  nude  figures  there  is  no  at- 
tempt at  modelling,  but  the  attitudes  are  so  well  observed,  the 
situations  are  presented  with  such  naive  humour,  and  the  person- 
alities are  so  real  that  we  feel  that  we  know  these  people  and 
all  their  httle  vanities  and  foibles,  even  though  they  are  not 
detached  from  the  background  and  have  no  real  bodies. 

These  frescoes  form  a  most  interesting  commentary  on  the 
courtly  hfe  of  the  period;  they  reflect  it  as  does  the  poetry;  in  truth 
they  are  hardly  more  than  illustrations  of  the  poems  with  which  the 
knights  and  their  ladies  were  so  familiar. 

In  the  city  houses,  as  well  as  in  the  castles,  the  wealthy  patri- 
cians adorned  their  walls  with  heroic  figures  from  epic  or  folk  poetry 
and  even,  occasionally,  with  pictures  illustrative  of  that  industrial 
development  which  was  bringing  such  great  wealth  to  many  of  the 
city  famihes.  There  were,  for  instance,  frescoes  in  a  house  in  Con- 
stance, of  which  drawings  remain  in  the  Wessenberg  collection, 
which,  with  scenes  from  the  Old  Testament,  the  Latin  classics  and 
the  Tristan  saga,  included  a  series  from  daily  hfe,  setting  forth  the 


30  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

process  of  weaving  from  the  preparing  of  the  flax  to  the  periodical 
baths  given  to  the  workers. 

But  the  amount  of  fresco-painting  in  Germany  was  small  in- 
deed in  comparison  with  Italy  and  the  period  of  its  practice  short. 
The  strong  external  factor  which  militated  against  its  continuance 
to  any  extent  through  the  XIV,  XV  and  XVI  centuries  is  to  be 
found  in  the  development  of  German  architecture.  The  limitations 
this  imposed  will  be  best  understood  by  a  brief  comparison  with  con- 
ditions in  Italy.  In  Italy,  for  the  telling  of  secular  stories  in  colour, 
the  princes'  palaces  offered  ample,  well-lighted  walls  and  ceilings. 
In  Germany,  there  were  few  such  great,  sunny  palaces;  instead  the 
houses  were  in  the  main  built  in  Gothic  style  and  ceiled  with  wood, 
while  the  hghting  of  these  houses  in  the  colder  northern  country 
would  have  seemed  to  an  Itahan  inadequate. 

There  was  also  less  wealth  in  the  hands  of  private  individuals 
in  Germany  than  belonged  to  the  princes  of  church  and  state  in 
Italy.  Even  when  the  great  Emperor  Maximilian  wished  to  set 
forth  his  life  history  in  the  "Triumphal  Procession,"  "White  King," 
and  "Theuerdank,"  he  did  it  in  the  cheapest  of  all  mediums,  the 
wood  cut,  and  was  oftentimes  hard  pressed  to  find  money  to  pay  his 
artists. 

For  the  painting  of  religious  pictures  the  basilica  offered  to 
the  painter  large  spaces  for  mural  decoration,  and  was  in  Italy  suc- 
ceeded almost  directly  by  Renaissance  buildings  which  did  not  de- 
prive him  of  those  spaces.  Even  those  monuments  of  the  Gothic 
style  which  were  erected  in  Italy  were  so  modified  to  conform  to 
ItaKan  architectural  canons  that  there  was  still  ample  opportunity 
for  the  exercise  of  the  painter's  art — as  in  the  Gothic  Church  of 
St.  Francis  in  Assisi.  In  Germany,  the  earliest  form  of  church 
architecture  was,  of  course,  as  in  the  south,  the  basilica.  The 
new  and  individual  style,  the  Romanesque,  which  developed  after 
the  year  1000,  for  a  time  provided  wall  space  for  the  exercise  of 
the  painter's  art.  For  a  relatively  short  time,  however.  Grad- 
ually the  character  and  endeavour  of  German  architecture  became 
vertical;  movement  upward  became  the  watchword.  The  height  of 
the  nave  increased  in  proportion  to  that  of  the  aisles,  towers  were 
built  and  the  effect  of  the  whole  building  was  lightened  in  response 


FRESCO-PAINTING  31 

to  this  movement  toward  height.  Colmnns,  pillars  and  other  de- 
tails became  more  slender,  and  solid  walls  were  broken  at  short 
intervals  by  glass  windows.  These,  even  in  the  late  Romanesque 
or  "Transitional"  cathedrals,  as  Spires,  Worms,  Mayence,  de- 
stroyed the  wall  space  which  formerly  was  a  field  for  decoration, 
leaving  only  the  ceiling  and  apse  to  the  painter.  From  this  archi- 
tectural style  it  was  but  a  short  step  to  the  Gothic  in  which  the 
wall  spaces  were  eliminated,  their  place  being  taken  by  glass  windows, 
and  the  ceilings  became  so  pointedly  arched,  so  ribbed  and  veined, 
that  the  last  space  for  the  monumental  fresco-painter  was  taken  from 
him.  The  fresco  was,  we  might  say,  superseded  by  the  glass  win- 
dow; and  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  many  of  the  greatest  artists, 
even  in  the  XVI  century,  furnished  designs  for  these  windows. 

A  new  field  was  opened  to  the  painter  when  the  altar-piece — 
antependium  or  superfrontal — came  into  use  in  the  churches  about 
the  middle  of  the  XII  century.  The  old  custom  had  been  to  have 
on  the  altar  nothing  but  the  cross,  the  candles  and  possibly  a 
reliquary.  Then  a  metal  altar-piece  was  introduced,  such  as  the 
"Golden  Altar"  now  in  the  Cluny  Museum  in  Paris,  which  was 
a  gift  from  the  Emperor  Henry  II  to  Basel  Cathedral.  In  the 
XII  century,  as  there  was  seldom  money  enough  for  so  costly  an 
altar-piece,  a  wooden  one,  on  which  some  sacred  or  symbolic  scene 
was  painted,  was  set  upon  the  altar.  The  earliest  of  these  altar- 
pieces  that  remains  to  us  is  that  which  was  painted  about  1180 
for  St.  Walpurgis'  Church  in  Soest,  in  WestphaHa,  and  is  now  in 
Miinster  gallery.  It  is  an  oblong  tablet  in  one  piece  and  presents, 
on  a  ground  which  was  originally  gold  but  is  now  gray,  Christ 
enthroned  upon  a  rainbow,  his  right  hand  raised  in  blessing,  his 
left  holding  a  book  open  on  his  knee.  To  the  left  stands  the 
Virgin  with  the  symbol  of  the  seven  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and 
St.  Walpurgis  with  a  book;  to  the  right  are  John  the  Baptist 
with  a  lamb  and  St.  Augustine  with  staff  and  book.  Sixteen  small 
concave  medalhons  are  set  in  the  frame,  in  which  were  originally 
painted  sixteen  prophets.  The  standpoint  and  technique  are  those 
of  the  fresco-painter;  indeed  so  closely  related  are  this  antepen- 
dium and  the  frescoes  in  St.  Patroclus'  Church,  Soest,  that  they 
are  generally  attributed  to  the  same  master. 


32  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

Similar  in  form  to  this  altar-piece  in  Munster  is  the  Rosenheim 
Altar  in  the  National  Museum,  Munich,  the  work  of  a  Bavarian 
painter  about  1300.  The  oblong  of  the  panel  is  broken  by  an  arch 
over  the  central  section,  in  which  is  represented  the  Coronation  of 
the  Virgin  by  Christ,  with,  overhead,  two  angels  bearing  a  crown. 
On  either  side  are  six  apostles.  The  figures  are  undersized,  all  in 
motion  and  gesticulating.  The  composition  possesses  a  certain 
marked  rhythm  owing  to  the  disposition  of  the  figures,  by  means 
of  bodily  attitudes  and  gestures,  in  groups  of  three,  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  disciples  are  grouped  in  Leonardo  da  Vinci's  "Last 
Supper,"  though,  of  course,  much  less  perfectly. 

A  step  in  the  formal  development  of  the  altar-piece  is  marked 
in  the  antependium  which  has  been  brought  to  Berlin  Gallery, 
from  the  Wiesenkirche  in  Soest,  for  which  it  was  painted  between 
1200  and  1230.  This  antependium  is  definitely  divided  into  three 
sections.  In  the  central  section,  which  is  arched,  is  the  Crucifixion. 
The  figure  of  the  Christ  is  draped  in  the  Byzantine  manner,  the  feet 
are  nailed  with  one  nail  and  supported  on  a  short  board.  To  the 
right  of  the  cross  stand  the  sorrowing  women;  to  the  left,  a  group  of 
men  whose  faces  and  gestures  express  great  excitement.  Above  these, 
under  the  arms  of  the  cross  are,  on  the  left,  Synagoge,  with  blind- 
folded eyes,  carrying  the  Tables  of  the  Law;  on  the  right,  Ecclesia, 
whom  an  angel  is  leading  to  the  cross  that  she  may  catch  in  her 
chalice  the  blood  of  Christ.  Above  the  cross  are  mourning  angels, 
pointing  with  outstretched  hands  to  the  Lamb  of  God.  The  scenes 
in  the  sections  of  the  altar-piece  to  right  and  left  are  set  in  circles 
which  recede  slightly  behind  the  plane  of  the  central  section.  In 
the  circle  on  the  left  section  is  a  representation  of  Christ  before 
Caiaphas,  which  is  full  of  animation.  Among  the  accusers  are  two 
men  wearing  the  pointed  hat  which  was  the  distinctively  Jewish 
article  of  apparel  and  one  man  so  Roman  in  type  and  in  garments 
that  the  figure  might  have  been  copied  from  a  statue  of  Caesar  Au- 
gustus. In  the  circle  on  the  right,  are  pictured  the  Marys  at  the 
Grave,  raising  their  hands  in  amazement  as  the  angel  tells  them  the 
wonderful  news  of  the  Resurrection.  The  corner  spaces  left  between 
the  curve  of  the  circle  and  the  frame  are  filled  with  prophets  and 
angels. 


a,  3 

«   p 
o    a 


FRESCO-PAINTING  33 

In  the  antependium  in  Berlin  Gallery,  painted  between  1250 
and  1270  by  the  Master  of  the  Frescoes  in  St.  Nicholas'  Church, 
Soest,  a  further  step  is  noticeable  in  the  development  of  the  altar- 
piece.  It  is  not  only  divided  into  three  sections  hke  the  Wiesen- 
kirche  antependium,  but  these  are  separated  by  columns,  which  stand 
out  from  the  picture  and  seem  to  support  the  round  arches  above 
them.  In  the  central  division  is  represented  the  Trinity;  in  the  left- 
hand  section  the  Virgin;  in  the  right,  St.  John  the  Evangelist. 

From  this  well-defined  division  of  the  altar-piece  into  fields,  it 
was  but  a  step  to  the  setting  on  of  the  side  sections  by  means  of 
hinges  so  that  they  could  be  closed  over  the  central  section,  which 
was  frequently  used  as  a  shrine.  Since  the  wings  were  attached 
by  means  of  hinges,  there  was  no  reason  why  the  artist  should 
stop  at  one  pair;  gradually  pair  after  pair  were  added  so  that  the 
extent  of  the  German  altar-piece  is  amazing  to  any  one  familiar 
only  with  ItaHan  and  Flemish  diptychs  and  triptychs.  But  with 
the  adoption  of  movable  wings,  it  became  necessary  to  hft  the 
altar-piece  above  the  altar,  since  the  wings  scraped  in  opening  and 
closing.  A  stationary  base  or  predella  was  therefore  added,  which, 
in  turn,  furnished  another  field  for  the  painter's  art.  Sometimes 
the  predella  itself  was  made  with  a  thick  wooden  base  and  received 
painted  wings  to  protect  the  paintings  or  wood-carved  figures  it 
contained.  Thus,  gradually,  evolved  the  large  German  altar-piece 
with  its  many  wings.  As  a  base  stood  the  predella,  with  or 
without  wings,  and  containing  pictures,  detached  figures  carved  in 
wood  or  wooden  figures  in  high  relief.  The  outside  of  the  altar- 
piece  proper  was  usually  treated  as  merely  the  case  and  as  such 
did  not  call  for  the  outlay  of  the  painter's  greatest  skill.  Some- 
times it  received  a  group,  such  as  the  Annunciation,  or  Adam  and 
Eve,  done  in  colours  or  simply  in  grey  on  grey;  sometimes  merely 
a  decoration  of  vines  and  leaves.  Corresponding  to  this,  the  back 
of  the  shrine  occasionally  received  a  picture  also.  In  some  altars 
a  pair  of  stationary  wings  formed  an  extension  of  the  altar  case 
and  a  sort  of  balance  in  width  to  its  thickness.  When  the  doors 
were  opened,  there  came  to  view  the  long  expanse  of  pictures 
covering  the  inside  of  the  outer  wings  and  the  outside  of  the 
next  pair.     The  wings  sometimes  received  one  picture  each,  some- 


34  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

times — very  commonly  in  the  earlier  altars — they  were  divided  into 
any  number  of  sections,  each  containing  a  small  picture.  When 
the  last  pair  of  wings  was  opened,  as  was  done  on  High  Days  and 
Holy  Days  only,  there  stood  disclosed  the  shrine  section,  the  largest 
and  most  beautiful  picture  of  all,  the  key  note  of  the  altar.  Fre- 
quently this  picture  was  not  a  painting,  but  was  composed,  in 
whole  or  in  part,  of  painted  figures  carved  in  wood,  detached  or 
in  very  high  rehef. 

Thus  with  the  evolution  of  the  altar-piece  a  new  and  important 
field  was  opened  to  the  painter — and  to  the  wood  carver  as  well — 
which  offered  larger  and  larger  opportimity  as  the  altar-piece  in- 
creased in  size. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  SCHOOL  OF  TRAGUE,  THE  EARLIEST  SCHOOL  OF 

ART  IN  GERMANY 

TOMMASO  DA  MODENA— NICHOLAS  WURMSER— THEODORIC 
OF  PRAGUE— MASTER  OF  WITTINGAU 

THE  earliest  school  of  painting  in  Germany  was  founded  in 
Prague  by  Karl  IV  who,  as  we  have  seen,  upon  becoming  King  of 
Bohemia  in  1333  set  about  making  his  capital  city  a  great  art 
centre,  gave  commissions  to  book  illuminators,  erected  many  build- 
ings and  invited  painters  to  decorate  his  churches  and  castles.  Im- 
mediately after  his  election  as  Emperor,  he  began  to  build  the  castle  of 
Karlstein  in  the  depths  of  the  forest,  high  over  the  river  Beraun,  as  a 

safe  treasure  house  for  the  crown  jewels.     Three  chapels  were  built 

within  the  fortress,  the  Chapels  of  St.  Mary  the  Virgin,  St.  Cather- 
ine and  the  Holy  Cross,  and  painters  were  summoned  to  adorn  them 
with  frescoes.  Among  these  there  was  at  least  one  ItaUan,  Tommaso  ^>^ 
da  Modena,  who  is  mentioned  as  working  in  Prague  in  1357.  The  __ 
names  of  two  other  artists  are  known;  Nicholas  Wurmser,  from  the 
Rhine  country,  and  Theodoric — or  Dietrich — of  Prague.  Nicholas 
Wurmser  was  a  sufficiently  distinguished  painter  to  receive  from  the 
Emperor  in  1360  a  grant  of  exemption  from  taxation  on  his  estate 
in  Morin,  a  privilege  extended  in  1367  to  his  colleague,  Theodoric  of 
Prague,  in  a  document  which  made  mention  of  "the  beautiful  and 
impressive  paintings  with  which  he  had  adorned  the  royal  chapel 
in  Karlstein." 

Tommaso  da  Modena  was  probably  of  the  school  of  Giotto,  as  >c 
his  work  betrays  marked  Florentine  characteristics.  His  signed  altar 
in  Vienna  Gallery  shows,  on  a  gold  background,  the  Virgin  of  Giot- 
tesque  type,  the  drapery  extending  to  cover  her  hair,  holding  the 
partially  draped  Christ  Child  and  a  little  dog  with  which  he  is 
playing.     In  the  smaller  panels  on  either  side  are  Saints  Wenceslas 

and  Palmatius.     In  the  Chapel  of  St.  Mary  the  Virgin  in  Karlstein 

Castle  is  a  series  of  scenes  from  the  Apocalypse  which  have  been  at- 

35 


X'. 


36  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

tributed  by  some  authorities  to  this  master,  by  others  to  the  German, 
Nicholas  Wurmser.  These  frescoes  are  in  a  poor  state  of  preserva- 
tion, but  some  details,  as  the  angels  blowing  trumpets,  who  face 
directly  toward  the  spectator,  show  a  remarkable  command  of 
perspective  and  foreshortening.  The  sentiment  and  the  types,  as 
that  of  the  Woman  of  the  Apocalypse,  are  German  rather  than 
Italian,  so  that  the  attribution  to  Nicholas  Wurmser  would  seem  the 
more  reasonable. 

To  Theodoric  of  Prague  are  attributed  the  frescoes  in  the  Holy 
Cross  Chapel,  which  was  dedicated  in  1365.  The  tops  of  the  deep 
window  niches  are  adorned  with  scenes  from  the  childhood  of  Christ 
and  the  Revelation  to  St.  John.  The  walls  are  decorated  with  one 
hundred  and  thirty-three  frescoes  in  two  and  three  rows,  one  above 
the  other,  presenting,  in  heroic  size,  half-length  figures  of  apostles, 
popes,  monks,  princes  and  saiints.  The  picture  over  the  altar  con- 
tains the  Crucifixion,  the  Virgin  and  St.  John,  and,  as  predella, 
the  Resurrection.  The  figures  of  the  Crucified,  St.  Augustine 
and  St.  Ambrose  have  been  broken  out  and  taken  to  the  Imperial 
Gallery  in  Vienna. 

The  types  in  this  chapel  are  broad-shouldered  and  strong,  with 
large  heads  and  earnest,  even  dramatically  intense,  expressions. 
That  the  artist  was  a  close  observer  of  nature  is  evident  in  the 
wrinkled  foreheads,  the  broad,  thick  noses,  the  prominent  cheek 
bones,  the  hands  with  their  sharply  marked  knuckles,  veins  and 
sinews.  The  Crucifixion  is  unusually  realistic  for  this  period,  the 
Christ  presenting  an  appearance  of  great  physical  suffering.  The 
garments  are  simply  draped,  in  full  folds;  the  colours  are  quite 
light. 

To  this  same  master,  Theodoric,  is  attributed  an  altar  in  the 
Rudolphinum  in  Prague,  which  presents  the  Virgin  with  the  Christ 
Child,  Saints  Wenzel  and  Sigismund,  four  other  Bohemian  Saints 
and  the  donor.  Archbishop  05ko  of  Wlaschim.  The  persons  in- 
troduced are  not  so  strongly  characterised  as  those  in  Karlstein 
Castle. 

Necessarily,  the  attribution  of  the  Karlstein  frescoes  is  in- 
definite. None  of  the  pictures  is  signed — except  Tommaso's  altar- 
piece  in  Vienna — and  there  is  no  documentary  evidence  as  to  what 


Photograph  by  Dr.  Stoedlner,  Berlin 

THEODORIC  OF  PRAGUE 
Virgin  and  Child  with  Saints  and  Archbishop  Ocko  op  Wlaschim 
imperial  gallery,  vienna 


THE  SCHOOL  OF  PRAGUE  37 

part  of  the  work  was  done  by  any  given  artist.  In  general,  it  may 
be  said  that  the  pictures  in  the  Florentine  manner,  similar  to  the 
Vienna  pictm'e,  are  assigned  to  Tommaso  da  Modena;  those  in  which 
the  types  and  sentiment  correspond  more  nearly  with  the  Schools  of 
the  Rhine  are  attributed  to  the  German,  Nicholas  Wurmser;  while 
those  presenting  strong,  broad-shouldered,  rather  Slavonic  types  in 
a  manner  true  to  life  and  astonishingly  free  from  the  hamperings  of 
art  traditions  are  believed  to  be  the  work  of  the  Bohemian, 
Theodoric. 

But  these  three  were  by  no  means  the  only  artists  attracted  to 
Prague  by  the  liberal  commissions  of  the  art-loving  Emperor.  Many 
works  by  painters  who  are  still  nameless  are  scattered  through  the 
Bohemian  churches.  So,  in  Prague,  the  hand  of  a  fourth  artist  is 
recognised  in  the  Crucifixion  in  the  Chapel  of  St.  Mary  the  Virgin. 
A  fifth  painted  the  altar  given  by  Reinhart  of  Prague  to  the  church  in 
Miihlhausen-on-Neckar  in  1385,  which  presents  Saints  Vitus, 
Wenzel  and  Sigismund.  Still  another  painted  in  the  Emmaus 
Cloister  in  Prague,  which  was  dedicated  in  1372,  a  series  of  scenes 
from  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  which  are  markedly  Italian  in 
character,  showing  much  of  the  delicacy  and  fondness  for  ornament 
characteristic  of  the  School  of  Siena. 

By  a  painter  whom  Henry  Thode  has  named  the  "Master  of 
Wittingau"*  because  his  altar  in  the  Rudolphinum,  Prague,  came 
from  the  little  Bohemian  town  of  Wittingau,  are  several  works  of 
especial  interest  not  only  in  themselves  but  because  they  exercised  a 
direct  and  unmistakable  influence  on  Master  Berthold  Landauer,  the 
first  of  the  great  painters  of  Nuremberg. 

The  Wittingau  Altar  is  now  in  three  sections,  two  of  which  repre- 
sent Christ  in  Gethsemane,  and  the  Resurrection,  with,  on  the  back, 
figures  of  saints;  the  third  section  contains  the  scene  of  the  Crucifixion. 
The  colouring  is  warm,  the  people,  especially  the  women,  possess 
considerable  beauty  and  charm,  the  scenes  and  figures  are  full  of 
life. 

A  most  interesting  work  by  this  Master  of  Wittingau  is  the 
"Virgin  and  Child"  in  the  church  in  Hohenfurt,  Bohemia.  The 
Madonna,  who  is  presented  standing,  in  three-quarter  length,  has  an 

*  Henry  Thode,  "Malerschule  von  Nurnberg." 


38  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

extremely  high  forehead,  above  which  is  set  a  large,  jewelled  crown 
from  the  back  of  which  is  draped  a  fringed  veil.  Her  fair,  wavy  hair 
is  worn  low  so  that  her  ears  are  almost  hidden.  The  face  is  broad,  the 
chin  short,  the  mouth  beautifully  curved,  the  eyes  large,  prominent 
and  heavy-lidded.  In  spite  of  the  narrow,  sloping  shoulders,  her 
whole  personahty  expresses  calm  strength  and  motherly  capability 
and  beneficence. 

Perhaps  the  most  widely  known  of  the  works  attributed  to  this 
artist  is  the  Pahler  Altar,  which  came  to  the  National  Museum, 
Munich,  from  Castle  Pahl  near  Weilheim.  The  central  picture 
represents  the  Crucifixion;  on  the  wings  are  St.  John  the  Baptist, 
St.  Barbara,  Christ  the  Man  of  Sorrows,  and  the  Virgin  and  Child. 
In  types  and  treatment  this  altar  resembles  that  from  Wittingau  and 
would  seem  to  be  a  direct  antecedent  of  Master  Berthold's  Deichsler 
Altar  in  Berlin  Gallery.  The  form  and  features  of  the  Christ  are 
of  extreme  refinement;  the  indications  of  suffering  are  restrained. 
The  flesh  is  done  with  great  softness  and  is  very  light,  indeed  quite 
pink  and  white  in  tone.  The  colour  scheme  is  simple  but  harmonious. 
St.  John  wears  a  red  robe  lined  with  blue;  the  Virgin,  blue  lined  with 
red,  with  a  white  head-dress;  St.  Barbara  brown;  St.  John  brownish 
green,  and  he  carries  a  red  book.  The  saints  are  all  very  tall  with  a 
combined  dignity  and  sweetness  of  bearing  which  makes  them  ideal 
saints,  apart,  aloof  from  sinful  men  in  purity  and  sanctity,  yet  tender 
and  pitiful  in  their  understanding  of  human  frailty. 

But  brilKant  as  was  this  early  art  period  in  Prague,  it  had  short 
continuance  on  its  own  soil.  Even  during  the  reign  of  Karl  IV*s 
successor.  King  Wenzel,  it  began  to  decline  and  after  the  outbreak  of 
the  Hussite  wars,  which  kept  Bohemia  so  long  in  turmoil,  its  activity 
ceased.  The  School  of  Prague,  indeed,  accomplished  its  greatest 
work  in  the  impetus  it  gave  to  the  early  development  of  the  greatest 
of  all  the  schools  of  art  in  Germany,  the  School  of  Nuremberg. 


PART    II 
SCHOOL  OF  COLOGNE 


CHAPTER  V 

HAMBURG 

MASTER  BERTRAM  VAN  BYRDE 

IN  the  Hanseatic  city  of  Hamburg  art  developed  early  and  was 
marked  by  distinct  originality  uninfluenced  to  any  extent  by 

the  art  of  any  foreign  country  or  of  the  other  German  schools. 
The  discovery  of  the  existence  of  a  large  body  of  work  by  its  early 
masters  has  been  made  within  the  last  ten  years  and  has  awakened 
the  greatest  interest  everywhere,  and  especially  in  Hamburg  itself. 
Churches,  individuals  and  other  galleries  have  most  generously  aided 
in  building  up  what  has  become  a  truly  notable  collection,  for  the 
accommodation  of  which  a  whole  wing  of  the  Kunsthalle  has  been  set 
apart.  Each  artist  has  been  given  a  room  to  himself,  whenever  the 
body  of  his  work  at  all  warrants  it,  and  the  rooms  have  been  ar- 
ranged in  chronological  order,  so  that  the  development  of  Hamburg 
art  is  set  forth  in  sequence  from  the  XIV  to  the  XIX  centuries. 

The  most  recently  discovered  artist,  Bertram  van  Byrde,  who  is 
also  the  earliest,  was  active  in  the  closing  years  of  the  XIV  and 
opening  years  of  the  XV  century.  Of  his  works  there  are  in  the  Kunst- 
halle the  Harvestehude  Altar,  which  contains  four  scenes  from  the 
Life  of  the  Virgin;  the  Buxtehude  Altar,  which  presents  in  great  detail, 
in  eighteen  scenes,  the  story  of  the  Virgin's  life,  from  her  father 
Joachim's  Sacrifice  to  her  Death  and  Coronation;  and  the  large 
Grabow  Altar  which  contains  twenty-four  painted  pictures  and  eighty 
figures  carved  in  wood  and  painted.  Besides  these,  there  is  a 
fourth  large  altar  of  Master  Bertram's  in  South  Kensington  Museum, 
London,  which  presents,  in  fifty-seven  pictures,  scenes  from  the  Life 
of  the  Virgin,  the  Life  of  St.  Mary  of  Egypt  and  the  Apocalypse. 

The  Grabow  altar,  so  called  because  it  was  for  many  years  in 
the  church  in  Grabow,  is  of  special  int^est  as  it  was  the  first  to  be 
identified  as  the  work  of  Master  Bertram  and  led  to  further  ac- 
quaintance with  the  master  and  to  the  recognition  of  other  works  from 
his  hand.    In  the  year  1900  ancient  documents  were  discovered  which 

41 


42  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

revealed  that  this  altar-piece  in  Grabow  had  been  the  old  High 
Altar  in  St.  Peter's  Church,  Hamburg,  painted  by  Master  Bertram 
in  1397;  that  St.  Peter's,  having  erected  a  new,  up-to-date  altar 
in  1722,  had,  in  1731,  when  a  devastating  fire  swept  the  village 
of  Grabow,  presented  it  to  the  church  there.  Now  on  the  altar- 
piece  as  it  stood  in  Grabow  the  representations  from  the  Old 
Testament  were  found  to  begin  with  the  Fourth  Day  of  Creation; 
it  must  therefore  be  concluded  that  the  pictures  of  the  first  three 
days  had  been  lost.  It  was  recalled  that  Lappenberg,  in  his  notes 
on  early  art  in  Hamburg,  related  that  the  picture  of  the  Resur- 
rection in  the  Jacobikirche  which  ^Egidius  Coignet  had  painted 
in  Hamburg  in  1593,  when  a  fugitive  from  Antwerp  in  conse- 
quence of  the  religious  unrest  in  the  Netherlands,  was  painted 
on  top  of  an  older  picture  with  gold  background,  of  which  there 
was  still  discernible,  through  the  Coignet,  the  sun,  the  moon  and 
the  outlines  of  a  human  form.  After  much  searching  the  Coignet 
picture,  which  had  been  lost  sight  of  for  years,  was  discovered 
and  the  measurements  were  found  to  be  the  same  as  those  of  the 
panels  of  the  Grabow  altar.  As  the  Coignet  picture  was  of  little 
artistic  value,  it  was  decided  to  clean  it  off,  whereupon  there  came  to 
light  the  missing  Days  of  Creation  and  three  other  scenes  from  the 
Old  Testament  which  were  painted  below  them  and  filled  out  the  six 
sections  into  which  the  panel  was  divided.  The  discovery  of  this 
wing  incited  to  a  search  for  a  corresponding  which  must  have  origi- 
nally balanced  it  on  the  altar-piece.  In  all  probability  they  had  both 
become  loose  while  the  altar  was  still  in  St.  Peter's  Church  and  this 
wing  had,  at  Coignet's  request,  been  given  to  him  as  a  fragment  of 
little  value  to  the  church  but  a  fine  board  for  a  painter.  But  since 
he  had  obtained  one  wing,  it  might  naturally  be  inferred  that  he  had 
also  painted  over  the  other  one  missing  from  Bertram's  altar.  In 
St.  Peter's  Church  were  two  more  Coignet  pictures,  the  "Last  Supper" 
and  the  "Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  which,  with  other  pictures,  had 
been  saved  from  the  terrible  fire  in  1842  by  the  artists  Otto  Speckter 
and  the  Genslers  at  the  risk  of  their  lives.  They  were  examined 
and  it  was  discovered  that  the  "Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost"  was 
painted  on  wood  and  possessed  the  same  dimensions  as  Master 
Bertram's  panels.     The  insignificant  Coignet  was  cleaned  off  and  the 


BERTRAM  VAN  BYRDE  43 

Grabow  altar  stood  complete  with  eighteen  scenes  from  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, six  scenes  from  the  New  Testament  and  eighty  carved  figures. 
The  Old  Testament  scenes  represent: — the  First  Five  Days  of  Crea- 
tion, the  Creation  of  Adam  and  of  Eve,  the  Warning  not  to  touch  the 
Forbidden  Fruit,  the  Fall,  the  Discovery,  the  Expulsion  from  Eden, 
Adam  and  Eve  at  Work,  the  Sacrifices  of  Cain  and  Abel,  Abel's 
Murder,  Building  the  Ark  (damaged).  Sacrifice  of  Isaac,  Jacob  and 
Esau,  Jacob  receiving  the  Blessing.  Those  from  the  New  Testament 
include  the  Annunciation,  Nativity,  Adoration  of  the  Kings,  Pres- 
entation in  the  Temple,  Massacre  of  the  Innocents  and  Rest  on 
the  Flight  into  Egypt.  The  central  group  in  the  wood  carvings 
represents  the  Crucified  with  Mary  and  John;  on  the  wings  are  the 
thirteen  apostles  (including  St.  Paul),  ten  prophets  (some  few 
restored),  twelve  female  saints,  six  male  saints,  three  Magi  and,  in 
half  length,  the  five  wise  and  five  foolish  virgins,  the  latter  with  their 
empty  lamps  held  upside  down.  On  the  predella,  the  Annuncia- 
tion is  the  central  representation;  on  either  side,  seated  under 
Gothic  arches  and  separated  from  one  another  by  columns,  are 
five  saints,  including,  on  the  right  of  the  Virgin,  Origen,  Am- 
brose, Augustine,  Jerome  and  Gregory;  on  the  left,  John  the  Bap- 
tist, Denis,  Chrysostom,  Bernhard  and  Benedict. 

All  our  information  about  the  life  and  personality  of  Master 
Bertram  has  been  gained  from  his  two  wills,  the  one  made  in  1390, 
the  second  in  1410.  The  master  gives  as  his  reason  for  making  the 
testament  of  1390;  "I  purpose  to  make  a  pilgrimage  to  Rome  for 
my  soul's  comfort."  The  will  reveals  the  fact  that  he  had  a  wife, 
Greta,  and  a  weak-minded  brother.  Cord;  to  these  two  most  of  his 
possessions  are  bequeathed,  though  all  the  Hamburg  churches  are 
remembered.  In  the  second  will,  made  in  1410,  no  mention  is  made 
of  his  wife,  who  must  therefore  have  died  before  it  was  drawn,  but  a 
daughter,  Geseke  or  Gesa,  is  provided  for,  also  that  same  brother 
Cord,  who  had  married  in  the  meantime  and  had  a  young  daughter, 
Meta.  The  family  name  is  mentioned  for  the  first  time  in  the  refer- 
ence to  his  brother,  who  is  called  Cord  van  Byrde.  Among  the 
religious  foundations  not  mentioned  in  the  former  testament  which 
receive  bequests  in  this  will,  are  the  cloisters  of  Harvestehude  and 
Buxtehude.     Bertram  must,  therefore,  have  painted  the  altars  for 


44  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

these  nunneries  between  1390  and  1410,  after  his  return  from  Rome. 
Harvestehude  is  mentioned  first  and  is  to  receive  one  mark;  Bert- 
ram's altar  for  this  cloister  was  small.  Buxtehude,  which  had 
given  him  a  much  larger  commission,  is  to  receive  two  marks. 
Harvestehude  is  mentioned  first  and  it  is  probable  that  its  altar  was 
painted  first.  The  carvings  in  the  shrine  would  lead  to  the  belief 
that  it  was  conceived  directly  after  the  Roman  visit.  The  Virgin 
is  half  reclining,  supported  by  cushions  on  a  draped  couch,  her 
attitude  and  the  treatment  of  the  drapery  recalling  sculptured 
figures  of  Roman  matrons.  The  manger  is  in  the  form  of  an 
altar,  with  the  heads  of  the  ox  and  the  ass  looking  over  the  top. 
As  the  Grabow  altar  of  1397  is  much  more  advanced  in  natural- 
ism than  the  Harvestehude  altar,  although  painted  so  many 
years  earlier,  it  would  seem  as  if  the  Roman  visit  had  inclined 
the  artist  toward  the  archaic  and  traditional  forms.  This  influ- 
ence did  not  last  long,  however,  for  the  Buxtehude  altar  shows 
an  even  closer  observation  of  nature  than  the  Grabow  altar. 

Master  Bertram  is  peculiarly  interesting  because  of  the  freshness 
of  his  conceptions,  the  sincerity  of  his  motives,  and  the  originality 
with  which  he  strives,  apparently  without  the  help  or  influence  of 
any  other  art,  to  solve  the  various  problems  which  arise  in  the 
course  of  his  story  telling.  He  is  above  all  a  story  teller,  who 
delights  in  setting  forth  in  minutest  detail,  affectionately,  some- 
times sentimentally,  all  the  happenings  in  the  lives  of  his  saints. 
While  most  of  his  people  are  sacred  and  must,  therefore,  be  presented 
as  remote  and  detached  from  worldly  interests,  their  accessories 
are  given  with  such  intimacy  as  to  make  us  sharers  in  the  Ger- 
man home  Hfe  of  the  period. 

That  Bertram's  early  training  had  probably  been  in  miniature 
painting,  or  by  a  master  who  was  an  illuminator,  is  suggested  by  the 
pictures  of  the  first  five  days  of  creation,  which  are,  so  far  as  I  know, 
represented  on  no  other  German  altar-piece,  though  very  general  sub- 
jects in  book  illumination.  The  "First  Day"  shows  God  the  Father, 
as  a  youthful  looking  man,  with  long  brown  hair  and  beard,  with 
raised  right  hand  and  parted  lips,  calHng  into  being  a  round,  green 
ball — the  earth — which  floats  before  Him  in  space.  Above,  in  the 
heavens,  painted  red  on  red,  in  a  round   cluster  of  conventional- 


BERTRAM  VAN  BYRDE  45 

ised  clouds  like  a  burst  of  flame,  is  the  countenauce  of  Christ — 
"In  the  beginning  was  the  Word'^ — closely  resembling  that  of 
God  the  Father,  but  with  an  intensity  of  expression  which  is 
almost  startling.  From  behind  him  ape-like  devils  are  falhng; 
one  wears  a  gold  crown;  some  have  haK  disappeared  from  view 
into  the  earth  in  whose  centre  they  are  to  find  their  hell. 

The  "Second  Day"  shows  God  the  Father,  this  time  with  solid 
groimd  beneath  his  feet,  calling  into  being  the  circle  of  the  heavens 
which  frames  the  head  of  Christ. 

In  the  "Third  Day"  appear,  in  conventionalised  clouds,  the 
golden  sun  and  silver  moon  with  human  faces,  and  some  staxs. 

The  creation  of  the  plant  world,  in  the  "Fourth  Day,"  presents 
the  earliest  landscape  in  northern  art.  The  ground  is  quite  thickly 
sown  with  flowers  and  herbs;  on  a  stereotyped,  rocky  hiU  to  the 
left  rises  a  forest.  The  trees,  to  be  sure,  are  all  out  of  propor- 
tion, for  although  they  are  on  a  little  hill  they  are  not  quite  so 
tall  as  the  human  figure  of  God  the  Father  standing  on  lower 
ground  beside  them.  But  the  hght  and  shade  on  the  trees,  the 
shining  distinctness  of  the  individual  leaves  in  the  Hght,  the  heavy 
masses  of  darkness  in  the  shadows  and  especially  the  spirally  twisted 
trunk  of  the  tree  that  stands  alone  on  the  edge  of  the  forest  and  has 
had  to  do  hard  battle  with  the  winds,  all  show  remarkably  close 
observation  of  nature. 

In  the  "Fifth  Day"  the  newly  created  animals  present  a  scene  of 
much  animation.  The  white  rabbit  is  suckHng  her  young,  the  wolf 
has  the  lamb  by  the  throat  so  that  the  blood  is  spurting  forth,  the 
bear  is  attacking  the  horse — a  strange  Httle  hobby  horse,  who  with 
wide  open  mouth  is  squeaUng  with  pain. 

Not  until  the  Creation  of  Man  do  the  angels  take  any  interest 
in  the  progress  of  events;  then,  as  the  youthful-looking,  beardless, 
curly-haired  Adam  emerges  from  the  earth,  the  angels  swing  censers 
in  the  sky  above.  The  Creation  of  Eve  they  greet  with  the  music  of 
stringed  instruments. 

Then  follows  a  most  unusual,  perhaps  unique,  picture  of  God  the 
Father  admonishing  Adam  and  Eve  not  to  eat  of  the  Tree  of  Knowl- 
edge. Adam  and  Eve  are  standing  in  the  Garden  near  a  large  and 
elaborate  Romanesque  gateway,  to  the  right  of  which  is  a  Gothic 


46  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

tower  just  like  the  one  at  the  Burgthor  in  Lubeck.  This  tower  is 
balanced  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  composition  by  the  standing 
figure  of  God  the  Father,  who  from  the  outside  looks  over  the  wall 
to  the  left  of  the  gateway.  Directly  in  front  of  him,  but  inside  the 
wall,  is  the  tree  at  which  he  points  with  his  right  hand;  his  left  hand 
is  raised  in  a  gesture  of  warning,  his  lips  are  parted  in  speech.  Adam, 
now  grown  a  bearded  man,  points  questioningly  at  the  tree,  as  if  he 
would  make  quite  sure  of  the  instructions;  Eve's  right  hand  is  lifted, 
palm  outward,  in  a  movement  of  protest — she  would  not  think  of 
touching  that  fruit!  The  figures  are  still  out  of  proportion  to  their 
surroundings,  the  great  gateways  and  the  trees  are  hardly  taller  than 
the  people.  But  the  sense  of  space  is  remarkable  in  the  impression 
given  of  very  considerable  distance  from  the  foreground  to  the  thresh- 
old of  the  gate.  The  treatment  of  the  light  is  astonishing  for  this 
early  date.  It  falls  diagonally  across  the  third  of  the  garden  in 
the  foreground,  lighting  the  flower  pots,  the  small  tree  to  the  left 
and  the  figures  of  Adam  and  Eve.  The  trees  near  the  wall  are 
in  the  heavy  shadow  which  is  also  cast  over  the  ground  beyond 
the  standing  figures.  A  further  detail  of  lighting  is  brought  out 
in  the  shadows  inside  the  little  towers  and  flower  pots, — a  treat- 
ment which  is  to  be  noted  especially  in  another  picture  of  this 
altar,  the  "Building  of  Noah's  Ark,"  in  which  the  inside  of  the 
boat  is  in  deep  shadow,  as  is  also  the  inside  of  the  drinking  cup 
from  which  a  workman  is  about  to  refresh  himself.  Well  observed 
is  the  light  falling  through  the  window  near  the  ground,  in  the 
tower,  but  leaving  the  left  wall  in  shadow. 

Master  Bertram's  types  as  they  are  presented  in  this  "Warning" 
persist  with  a  remarkable  degree  of  faithfulness  through  all  his  works. 
Surprising  is  the  conception  of  the  eternal  youthfulness  of  God  the 
Father.  The  form  under  the  long,  scant  mantle  is  flat  and  without 
modelling,  the  head  is  large,  the  face  rather  expressionless;  the  lips  are 
always  parted  in  speech.  The  Virgin  has  a  rather  long  face,  with  a 
high  forehead,  straight  nose,  short  chin,  small  mouth,  large  blue 
(sometimes  brown)  eyes,  and  long,  fair  hair  which  hangs,  in  a 
fashion  peculiar  to  pictures  of  the  Hamburg  School,  in  sepa- 
rate strands  which  yet  are  not  ringlets.  Joseph  is  pictured  as 
an  old  man  of  Semitic  type,  with   white  hair   and  beard.    The 


Reproduced  from  Director  Lichtwark' s  "Master  Bertran 

BERTRAM  VAN  BYRDE 

God  the  Father  Warns  Adam  and  Eve  not  to  Touch  the  Forbidden  Fruit 

kunsthalle,  hamburg 


Courtesy  of  the  Kunsthalle 


BERTRAM  VAN  BYRDE 

The  Angels'  Visit 
kunsthalle,  hamburg 


BERTRAM  VAN  BYRDE  47 

figures,  for  the  most  part,  are  short  though  not  too  thick-set; 
the  hands  are  very  large  and  long,  the  feet  exceedingly  square, 
the  heads  too  large  for  the  bodies.  The  artist  does  not  always 
succeed  in  controlhng  the  glance  of  his  subjects;  in  the  earlier 
pictures  they  seldom  look  where  they  might  naturally  be  ex- 
pected to  look.  The  types  are  all  marked  by  refinement;  they 
are  never  common  or  coarse. 

Only  occasionally  do  we  feel  that  Master  Bertram's  people  are 
portrayed  direct  from  life;  as  the  young  man  in  the  "Building  of 
Noah's  Ark,"  and,  in  the  Buxtehude  altar,  the  nurse,  the  lovely 
young  girl  who  is  helping  her,  and  the  handsomely  dressed  young 
woman  who  is  attendant  upon  Anna  in  the  "Birth  of  the  Virgin;" 
the  old  shepherd  in  the  "Annunciation  to  the  Shepherds;"  some  of 
the  lawyers  in  "Christ  and  the  Doctors  of  the  Law;"  the  fashionable 
bride  and  smooth-faced  bridegroom  in  the  "Marriage  at  Cana." 
In  "Jacob  and  Esau"  and  the  "Blessing  of  Jacob,"  in  the  Grabow 
altar,  the  head  of  Isaac  is  markedly  Semitic  in  type.  His  blindness 
is  well  realised;  he  has  not  just  closed  his  eyes  for  a  moment  to  open 
them  again  at  will.  That  the  aged  man  is  also  toothless  is  permitted 
to  be  very  evident  through  his  parted  lips  as  he  bestows  his 
blessing  upon  his  younger  son.  But  none  of  the  figures  in  the 
paintings  reveal  such  close  observation  and  faithful  recording  of 
life  as  the  carved  Mary  Magdalen  on  the  inside  of  the  inner 
wings.  The  singularly  full  lower  eyelids,  the  lips  curving  up- 
ward at  the  corners,  the  short,  broad  nose  and  round  chin  all 
belonged  to  a  definite  person  of  Bertram's  acquaintance,  whose 
portrait  he  carved  in  the  very  hood  he  saw  her  wearing  daily.  In- 
deed almost  all  the  statuettes  are  individuahsed  to  a  greater  degree 
than  the  paintings  and  such  figures  as  those  of  Saints  Bernhard  and 
Origen  are  astonishingly  hfelike. 

The  human  form  is  presented  with  more  skill  than  we  have, 
perhaps,  any  right  to  expect.  In  the  nude  figures  of  Adam  and 
Eve,  the  shoulder  blades,  knees,  ribs,  muscles  and  sinews  are 
distinctly  indicated  and  brought  out  by  high  fights.  The  fiesh 
tone  is  darker  in  the  body  of  the  man  than  in  that  of  the 
woman.  The  movement  in  the  "Discovery"  and  the  "Expulsion" 
is  unexpectedly  good  and  Eve  pointing  to   the   serpent  possesses 


48  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

in  person  and  movement  a  very  considerable  degree  of  beauty. 
Few  opportunities  presented  themselves  to  Master  Bertram  for 
the  delineation  of  the  nude,  outside  of  these  scenes  with  Adam 
and  Eve.  The  Christ  Child  is  usually  fully  robed,  though  not  so 
in  the  "Adoration  of  the  Magi,"  in  the  Grabow  and  Buxtehude 
altars  or  in  the  "Circumcision'*  in  the  Buxtehude  altar.  He 
is  exceedingly  small  in  nearly  all  representations,  being  hardly 
larger  than  a  doll  in  the  Grabow  "Presentation."  The  nude  form  of 
St.  Mary  of  Egypt  is  presented  with  remarkable  skill  and  rounded 
detachment  from  the  background  in  the  London  altar,  in  the  three 
scenes  picturing  her  fed  by  angels,  receiving  the  Sacrament,  and 
lying  dead  in  the  forest  while  two  angels  swing  censers  above 
her  and  others  carry  her  soul  aloft  to  the  music  of  instruments. 
In  the  carved  section,  the  form  of  Christ  on  the  Cross,  though 
given  without  regard  to  anatomical  construction,  is  of  much 
beauty  and  refinement. 

The  draped  figures  in  the  pictures  do  not  wear  garments  of  as 
varied  fashions  as  do  those  in  the  carved  section  of  the  altar.  The 
Virgin  is  given  the  traditional  robes,  with  a  most  decorative  halo; 
sometimes  she  wears  a  crown,  sometimes  her  mantle  is  drawn  over 
her  head.  The  heavy  strands  of  her  hair  are  always  allowed  to  fall 
softly  about  her  face.  Joseph  wears  a  distinctive  cap  and  carries 
a  carved  pilgrim's  staff  and  pilgrim's  flask.  In  the  "  Murder  of  Abel," 
Cain,  the  worldling,  affects  a  small  waist,  bell  sleeves  and  excessively 
long  and  pointed  shoes.  The  bride  in  the  "Marriage  at  Cana" 
wears  an  exceedingly  modish  bonnet.  In  the  extreme  of  fashion  is 
the  young  woman  offering  refreshment  to  Anna  in  the  Buxtehude 
"Birth  of  the  Virgin."  Her  brocaded,  tight-fitting  gown  with  bell 
sleeves,  is  cut  low  over  the  shoulders,  on  her  head  she  wears  a  dainty 
little  round  cap,  held  by  a  strap  under  the  chin  in  the  same  manner  as 
an  English  soldier's. 

All  Master  Bertram's  altars  are  painted  on  a  gold  ground,  though 
in  some  cases  almost  none  of  it  shows,  as  it  is  quite  filled  with  archi- 
tectural or  landscape  features.  But  little  of  it  appears  in  the  "Warn- 
ing" of  the  Grabow  altar,  where  the  great  gate  usurps  almost  all 
the  background.  In  the  "Blessing  of  Jacob"  none  of  it  is  seen 
except    faint  lines    through   the   narrow   Gothic  windows   of   the 


BERTRAM  VAN  BYRDE  49 

baldachin-like  room.  In  the  Buxtehude  "Birth  of  the  Virgin" 
the  house  wall  furnishes  all  but  a  narrow  strip  of  the  back- 
ground. The  interior  of  the  house  into  which  the  artist  would 
have  us  look,  is  indeed  little  more  than  background,  for  he  has 
not  been  able  to  bring  the  roof  over  it  and  the  people  inside  it 
convincingly.  He  lets  us  see  the  red  tiling  of  the  roof  and  the  smoke 
coming  out  of  the  kitchen  chimney  as  if  we  were  above  it  all,  whereas 
he  really  wishes  us  to  stand  on  its  threshold  and  see  Anna,  on  the  bed, 
which  is  made  up  on  a  braided  rug,  taking  the  nourishment  offered 
to  her  by  a  young  woman  of  extreme  elegance;  the  nurse  by  the  fire 
about  to  pour  the  warm  water  of  her  first  bath  over  the  new-born 
Mary;  the  charming  young  girl  who  helps  the  nurse,  holding  the 
towel  in  readiness;  Joseph  half  visible  in  the  semi-darkness  of  the 
kitchen  beyond;  the  seat  against  the  red  wall;  the  cat  watching 
proceedings  with  waving  tail,  and  many  other  homely,  intimate 
details  of  daily  life  as  he  knew  it. 

In  the  "Annunciation"  of  the  Buxtehude  altar  a  panel  of  gold 
background  is  all  that  is  left  unoccupied  by  the  room  in  which  the 
Virgin  is  kneeling,  reading  by  the  Hght  from  a  window  in  the  right 
wall,  while  through  an  opening  in  the  left  wall  the  angel  delivers  his 
message.  Part  of  the  angel's  body  and  wings  are,  as  it  were,  sil- 
houetted against  the  single  strip  of  gold  which  is  left  unfilled.  In  the 
Buxtehude  "Joachim  among  the  Shepherds"  and  the  "Annunciation 
to  the  Shepherds"  a  third  of  the  background  is  taken  up  by  a  forest 
landscape  in  which  sheep  are  grazing,  rams  butting  one  another,  and 
a  young  lamb  is  feeding,  all  of  which  scenes  are  given  with  perfect 
naturalness.  The  "Annunciation  to  the  Shepherds"  possesses 
unusual  interest,  as  the  representation  is  of  extreme  rarity  except  in 
the  background  of  pictures  of  the  Holy  Night  A  very  small  patch  of 
gold  sky  is  all  that  is  visible  of  the  gold  background  in  the  unique 
picture  of  the  "Visitation  of  the  Angels"  on  the  Buxtehude  altar, 
which  is  the  only  representation  of  this  legend  I  know  in  art.  The 
actual  background  is,  on  the  left,  a  shady  group  of  trees,  on  the 
right,  a  tiny  room  of  which  three  sides  are  given  and  in  which  the 
Virgin  sits  knitting  the  seamless  vesture  which  grew  with  the  Child 
and  for  which  lots  were  cast  at  the  foot  of  the  cross.  Beside  her  on 
the  seat  is  a  basket  in  which  her  yarn  is  kept.    The  Christ  Child, 


50  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

in  a  straight,  scant  dress,  is  lying  on  the  ground  beside  her.  He  has 
tired  of  playing  with  his  top,  which  lies  there  neglected,  and  is  reading 
in  a  book.  Suddenly,  from  the  left  have  appeared  two  sweet,  serious, 
tall  angels  with  peacock-coloured  wings,  one  of  them  carrying  the  cross 
and  the  nails,  the  other  the  spear  and  the  crown  of  thorns.  The  Child 
has  tm*ned  his  head  quickly  to  look  back  and  up  at  them  as  they  stand 
behind  him,  yet  has  not  turned  his  body  or  dropped  the  hand  on 
which  his  cheek  has  been  resting — a  most  curious  and  interesting 
movement.  The  whole  atmosphere  of  this  rare  scene  is  that  of  a 
dream,  a  vision,  though  so  intimate  and  tender.  Something  of  the 
poetic  quality  is  contributed  by  the  cool,  shady  grove  of  trees  which 
furnishes  the  suitable  and  sympathetic  background  for  the  scene. 

It  is  remarkable,  for  this  period,  to  find  the  landscape  playing  an 
important  part  in  so  many  of  Master  Bertram's  pictures.  Unusual, 
too,  and  wholly  German,  is  the  evident  joy  with  which  he  introduces 
animals  into  his  pictures.  Besides  the  animals  in  the  "Fifth  Day  of 
Creation" — the  earliest  picture  of  animals  in  northern  art — we  have 
already  noticed  the  sheep,  the  butting  rams,  the  sucking  lamb  in  the 
"Joachim  among  the  Shepherds"  of  the  Buxtehude  altar.  In  the 
"Angels  and  Shepherds"  there  are,  besides  the  sheep,  a  shaggy 
Abyssinian  ram  in  the  foreground,  a  dog  stealing  food  from  a  bag, 
a  wolf,  a  fox,  and  startled  birds  in  the  tree-tops.  In  the  "Birth  of  the 
Virgin  "  the  cat  adds  the  last  touch  of  domesticity.  In  the  "  Nativity," 
while  an  angel  who  has  dropped  on  the  thatched  roof  of  the  shed 
swings  a  censer  over  the  holy  pair  and  another  who  has  shyly  pushed 
the  outer  door  half  open  is  peeping  in  with  one  eye  and  vigorously 
swinging  a  second  censer,  a  small  pig  has  joined  the  company  of 
the  ox  and  ass  and  goes  rooting  about  the  manger,  and  along  the 
rafters  of  the  stable  a  cat  walks  stealthily.  That  at  some  later  period 
the  cat  and  the  little  pig  had  not  been  considered  fitting  in  a  sacred 
picture  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  they  had  been  painted  out 
and  only  came  to  light  in  the  recent  cleaning. 

Master  Bertram's  colouring  is  very  lovely.  He  frequently 
gains  lustre  and  glow  for  his  solid  colours  by  the  device  of  enlivening 
them  with  fine  dots,  points  or  cross  fines  of  gold.  They  are  har- 
monised, usually,  by  being  toned  to  some  predominant  or  central 
coloiu*,    the   favourite   being   grey.     Sometimes   this  grey  is  given 


Courtesy  of  the  Kunsthalle 


BERTRAM  VAN  BYRDE 

The  Nativity 

kunsthalle,  hamburg 


Photograph  by  Joh.  Nohring,  Lubeck 

MASTER  FRANCKE 

Angels  Supporting  the  Dead  Christ 

kunsthalle,  hamburg 


BERTRAM  VAN  BYRDE  51 

in  the  architecture,  sometimes  in  a  detail,  as  in  the  "Fhght  into 
Egypt,"  where  the  grey  of  the  donkey  gives  the  keynote  to  which  the 
colom-ing  of  the  whole  pictm-e  is  attuned. 

A  comprehensive  glance  over  Master  Bertram's  work  reveals 
him  as  a  story-teller  of  much  charm,  who  prefers  to  picture  the 
gentler,  more  pleasing  aspects  of  Hfe,  to  linger  with  sweet  sentiment 
over  the  intimate  details  of  family  and  home,  to  make  known  to  us 
kindly  men  and  gracious,  tender  women,  to  beautify  and  enliven  his 
scenes  with  trees  and  flowers  and  animals  which  all  call  out  his  love. 
He  is  seldom  dramatic,  though  not  utterly  without  the  power  to  be 
so,  as  is  shown  by  his  two  representations  of  the  Massacre  of  the 
Innocents.  This  dramatic  quality  he  does  not,  however,  introduce 
in  his  carved  Crucifixion,  which  is  marked  by  a  high,  calm  serenity. 
The  noble  figure  of  the  Christ  is  not  that  of  an  agonizing  Man  of 
Sorrows,  but  is  the  symbol  of  "Christ  hfted  up." 

So  through  almost  all  his  pictures  peace  and  beauty  and  charm 
breathe  like  the  incense  and  the  music  with  which  his  angels  fill 
them.  They  are  not  so  mystic  in  spirit  and  atmosphere  as  those 
of  the  early  Cologne  masters,  although  the  Grabow  altar  was  evi- 
dently designed  for  a  patron  who  held  the  tenets  of  the  Mystic  faith 
or  philosophy,  since  Origen  is  one  of  the  saints  on  the  predella — 
Origen  who  was  an  arch-heretic  in  the  eyes  of  all  but  Mystics.  St. 
Denis  and  St.  Bernhard,  also  favourites  with  the  Mystics,  are  included, 
while  St.  Francis  is  left  out.  The  inscriptions  on  the  scrolls  held  by 
the  saints — which  were  discovered  only  at  the  time  of  the  recent 
cleaning — express  dogmas  of  Mystic  Philosophy,  as  St.  Denis'  "The 
true  God  is  not  demonstrable  among  the  gods."  But  though  the 
pictures  are  mystic  in  intent  and  content.  Master  Bertram  in- 
troduces so  many  details  of  famihar,  every-day  life  and  makes 
his  people  so  closely  akin  to  us  in  their  actions,  interests  and 
emotions  that  they  seem  not  remote  or  worshipful  but  humanly 
near  and  dear. 


CHAPTER  VI 

HAMBURG 

MASTER  FRANCKE— HEINRICH  FUNHOF— ABSALOM  STUMME— 

HEINRICH  BORNEMAN 

FROM  Master  Bertram  van  Byrde,  greatest  of  the  painters  of 
the  XIV  century  in  Hamburg,  Master  Francke  may  have 
learned  the  elementary  technique  of  his  art.  The  indications 
of  his  influence  are,  however,  exceedingly  slight.  Francke  differs 
from  him  decidedly  in  types,  colouring  and  sentiment.  Indeed  there 
seems  to  have  been  no  external  influence  which  noticeably  affected 
Master  Francke;  he  is  highly  individual  and  seldom  reminiscent 
of  any  other  school  or  master,  though  his  delicate,  nervous,  aris- 
tocratic types  with  the  veining  and  musculature  so  carefully 
marked,  reveal  the  possession  of  the  same  ideals  as  the  Italian 
Crivelli. 

When,  in  the  early  years  of  the  new  enthusiasm  over  Hamburg 
art,  Alfred  Lichtwark  was  making  a  search  for  old  paintings  by 
Hamburg  masters,  he  found,  in  the  badly  lighted  choir  of  St.  Peter's 
Church,  a  most  remarkable  picture  from  the  first  half  of  the  XV 
century,  which  had  been  overlooked  by  all  previous  seekers,  probably 
because  they  did  not  dream  of  finding  an  old  picture  in  so  new  a 
church.  This  "Man  of  Sorrows"  was  found  to  be  one  of  the  pictures 
that  had  been  saved  by  the  artists  Otto  Speckter  and  the  Genslers 
from  the  fire  which  destroyed  the  old  St.  Peter's  Church,  and  had 
been  restored  by  them  to  the  new  church.  The  picture  presents, 
against  a  brocaded  background,  the  thorn-crowned  Christ  in  life 
size — which  is  in  itself  an  astonishing  and  interesting  fact,  as  it 
is  the  first  representation  of  a  figure  in  life  size  known  in  north- 
ern art.  Light  rays,  instead  of  a  solid  halo,  form  an  aureole 
about  his  head.  One  wounded  hand  with  fingers  held  far  apart 
and  stiffly  curving,  points  to  his  bleeding  side;  the  other  is  so 
held  that  we  may  see  the  palm  and  the  blood  which  streams  from 
the  wound.  A  white  mantle  with  a  lining  of  cool,  dull  red  falls 
from  his  shoulders  and  is  held  up  by  three  angels  in  blue.     Across 

52 


MASTER  FRANCKE  53 

the  lower  section  of  the  picture  a  curtain  of  glowing  red  brocade 
is  held  by  two  angels  who  bear  an  Easter  lily  and  a  flaming 
sword.  The  type  of  Christ  is  highly  individual;  the  forehead  wide 
and  low,  the  nose  straight  and  fine,  the  lower  part  of  the  face 
and  the  chin  extremely  narrow  and  pointed,  the  mouth  drooping 
at  the  corners,  the  eyes  hardly  more  than  half  open  and  drooping 
in  fines  parallel  with  the  lines  of  the  fips,  the  eyebrows  raised 
high  as  if  in  patient  endurance.  The  hair  falls  just  to  the  shoul- 
ders in  heavy,  separate  strands  which  yet  are  not  ringlets — a 
treatment  similar  to  that  to  which  we  are  accustomed  in  Master 
Bertram's  pictures. 

On  a  chance  visit  to  Hamburg  shortly  after  the  discovery  of  this 
picture  Friedrich  Schfie  saw  it  and  at  once  aflBrmed  that  in  Leipsic 
there  was  another  "Man  of  Sorrows"  and  in  Schwerin  Museum  a 
series  of  nine  pictures  by  the  same  master.  The  pictures  in  Schwerin 
were  found,  upon  investigation,  to  have  gone  there  from  St.  John's 
Church,  Hamburg,  where  they  formed  part  of  the  altar  in  the  Chapel 
belonging  to  the  English  Trading  Company  or  Englandsfahrer- 
Gesellschaft.  The  original  altar  contained,  on  the  shrine,  the  Cruci- 
fixion, of  which  only  the  group  of  sorrowing  women  remains,  and  of 
which  there  is  a  copy  in  Copenhagen  Museum.  From  the  inner  sides 
of  the  inner  wings  there  remain  four  scenes  from  the  Passion;  on  the 
left,  "The  Scourging"  and  "Bearing  the  Cross,"  leading  up,  as  it 
were,  to  "The  Crucifixion"  on  the  shrine;  on  the  right,  after  "The 
Crucifixion,"  "The  Entombment"  and  "The  Resurrection."  When 
only  the  outer  wings  were  opened,  there  were  revealed  four  scenes 
from  the  Life  of  the  Virgin,  of  which  only  "The  Nativity"  and  "The 
Adoration  of  the  Kings"  are  left;  and  four  scenes  from  the  life  of 
the  patron  saint  of  the  Company,  St.  Thomas  a  Becket,  of  which 
only  "The  Flight"  and  "The  Assassination"  remain. 

Arrangements  were  presently  concluded  for  the  transfer  of 
these  nine  pictures  from  Schwerin  to  the  aheady  notable  collection  of 
works  by  Hamburg  Masters  in  the  Kunsthalle.  No  hope  of  ever 
finding  the  name  of  the  artist  was  entertained,  for  the  records  of  the 
English  Trading  Company  had  all  been  destroyed;  but  suddenly, 
in  an  old  manuscript  which  referred  to  the  said  loss  of  the  Company's 
documents,  the  fact  was  noted  that  the  Company  had  ordered  this 


54  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

altar  in  1424  from  the  artist  Master  Francke  and  had  paid  for  it 
about  one  hundred  Liibeck  marks.  Nothing  further  has  been 
learned  about  his  life  or  personality.  The  eleven  known  pictures 
acquaint  us,  however,  with  his  individuality  as  an  artist. 

Of  the  two  representations  of  the  Man  of  Sorrows,  the  one  in 
Leipsic  is  an  early  work,  the  one  in  Hamburg  the  latest  and  most 
mature  work  of  the  master.  The  figure  in  each  of  them  is  given  in 
three-quarters  length  and  life  size,  but  in  the  Leipsic  picture  the  body 
is  more  slender  and  shapeless  than  in  the  Hamburg  picture  and  the 
arms  are  very  thin  and  lacking  in  modelling,  while  in  the  later  work 
they  are  fully  developed,  with  elbows  and  forearms  clearly  defined. 
The  face  in  the  Leipsic  picture  is  more  painfully  drawn  and  the 
corners  of  the  lips  and  eyes  are  pulled  down  almost  diagonally; 
in  the  one  in  Hamburg  they  droop  in  a  manner  to  appeal  to 
our  tenderest  sympathy,  but  not  so  excessively  as  to  mar  the 
beauty  of  the  face.  In  both  of  them  the  Christ  type  reveals 
a  delicate  organisation,  highly  strung,  nervous  and  sensitive. 
While  the  colouring  in  both  is  lovely  enough  to  attract  attention, 
that  in  the  Hamburg  picture  is  of  rare  beauty  and  harmony. 
The  fine  sense  of  values  shown  in  the  daring  which  lets  the  ends  of  the 
white  mantle  lie  against  the  white  shoulder  of  Christ  is  quite  modern. 
These  white  tones,  with  the  dull  purple  red  of  the  background 
formed  by  the  mantle  and  the  blue  of  the  angels  above,  give  an 
effect  of  coolness  to  the  picture,  which  is  by  no  means,  however, 
a  hard  or  repellent  coldness,  but  is  silvery  and  shimmering.  The 
charm  of  type,  the  wonderful  softness  of  the  flesh  and  the  har- 
mony and  atmospheric  quality  of  the  colouring  cannot  be  put 
into  words;  they  must  be  seen  and  felt. 

In  the  pictures  from  the  altar  of  the  English  Trading  Com- 
pany there  are  remaining  to  us,  as  we  have  seen,  two  idyllic 
scenes  from  the  Life  of  the  Virgin,  three  tragic  scenes  from 
the  Passion  and  two  dramatic  scenes  from  the  Life  of  St.  Thomas 
of  Canterbury.  The  scenes  from  the  Life  of  the  Virgin  and 
from  the  Life  of  St.  Thomas  are  painted  against  a  brilliant  red 
background  dotted  with  small  gold  stars.  In  "The  Nativity," 
God  the  Father  appears  in  a  light  so  bright  that  it  blots  out 
the   stars   all   about   him.     His  countenance  is  one  of  high   dig- 


MASTER  FRANCKE  55 

nity,  his  hair  and  beard  are  white  and  from  his  mouth  rays 
of  Hght  proceed  which  fall  upon  the  infant  Christ  lying  on  the  earth 
below.  Before  the  Child  kneels  the  Virgin  Mother  in  a  white  robe 
with  bands  of  purple,  her  long  fair  hair  falling  in  heavy,  wavy 
strands  over  her  shoulders.  This  attitude  of  the  Virgin  is  in  itself 
sufficient  to  mark  the  picture  as  a  work  of  the  XV  century,  since  not 
before  that  time  did  the  artists  conceive  of  the  Mother  as  worshipping 
the  Child;  in  earUer  pictures  of  the  Nativity,  as  for  instance,  in 
Master  Bertram's,  the  mother  holds  the  Babe  in  her  arms.  Beside 
the  Virgin  kneel  three  small,  winsome  angels  with  curling  hair  and 
long  draperies,  who  hold  up  a  blue  curtain  as  if  to  screen  the  holy 
pair.  The  halos  are  of  rays  of  light;  hght  is  radiated  also  from  the 
body  of  the  Divine  Child.  To  the  right,  ox  and  ass  are  eating  from 
a  stall.  In  the  middle  distance,  on  a  rocky  plateau,  is  a  grove  of 
stunted  trees,  all  out  of  proportion  in  size  to  the  other  details  of  the 
picture;  on  the  hill  in  the  background  sheep  are  grazing  and  to  their 
shepherds  angels  are  telling  the  glad  tidings.  The  picture  is  a 
graceful  idyll,  full  of  peace  and  tenderness  and  lyric  charm,  and 
gives,  in  addition,  with  remarkable  success,  the  impression  of  a  lovely 
vision  seen  in  a  flash  of  supernatural  light  which  breaks  through  the 
darkness  of  the  night.  It  is  an  interesting  attempt  to  do  with  the 
limited  technical  means  at  hand  in  the  XV  century  what  Correggio 
accomplished  two  centuries  later. 

In  *'The  Adoration  of  the  Kings,"  a  black  cloud  obscures  many 
stars,  and  from  the  midst  of  its  darkness  the  Star  of  Bethlehem 
shines  forth.  On  the  foot  of  a  bed,  which  is  covered  with  a  red 
spread  and  has  two  dainty  white  cushions,  the  Virgin  sits  very 
erect  and  stately.  So  youthful  and  girlish  is  she  that  involuntarily 
the  onlooker  is  moved  to  smile  at  the  dignity  and  air  of  remoteness 
with  which  she  is  invested,  as  he  would  at  the  assumptions  of  a 
child  "pretending.'*  The  picture  is  very  full  of  movement;  the 
oldest  of  the  kings  and  the  Christ  Child  are  busy  with  the  treasures, 
the  one  with  the  large  ermine  collar  is  pointing  to  the  Star  and  the 
young  one  in  the  fashionable  pleated  coat  with  very  long  sleeves, 
who  wears  a  crown  on  his  ringleted  hair,  is  shading  his  eyes  osten- 
tatiously with  his  hand  in  order  to  look  at  its  brightness.  Joseph, 
too,  is  occupied;  he  has  opened  a  great  strong  box  and  his  right 


5Q  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

hand  is  outstretched  to  take  the  costly  gifts  and  put  them  away  in 
this  safe  place. 

Most  interesting,  especially  in  the  scenes  from  the  Passion,  are 
the  master's  devices  for  creating  the  illusion  of  depth  in  his  pictures, 
without  possessing  any  knowledge  of  perspective  or  having  before 
him  as  examples  anything  much  more  advanced  than  the  flat  frescoes 
and  tapestries.  In  "The  Scourging,"  he  has  set  up  in  the  foreground 
a  fence-like  grating  which  separates  the  onlooker  from  the  roofed 
portico  in  which  the  villains  are  tormenting  the  gentle  Christ,  who 
is  bound  to  a  column.  Outside  this  fence,  on  the  left,  on  a  throne, 
on  the  arms  of  which  are  beautifully  carved,  small  lions,  Pilate, 
wearing  a  curious  hat  with  a  sort  of  visor,  and  a  handsome  mantle, 
sits  with  his  hands  outspread  upon  his  knees  and  watches  the  scene 
intently.  Gaiaphas,  with  ringleted  hair,  one  hand  resting  on  the 
head  of  one  of  the  carved  lions,  the  other  with  forefinger  extended  to 
touch  Pilate's  breast,  seems  to  be  endeavouring  to  drive  home  some 
argument  that  will  convince  the  Governor.  The  impression  is  given 
of  the  space  at  the  left  in  which  are  Pilate  and  Caiaphas;  and  of  con- 
siderable room  where  the  Scourging  is  taking  place;  but  that  the 
artist  really  knows  nothing  of  perspective  and  has  no  "point  of  sight" 
is  betrayed  by  his  showing  us  the  outside  of  the  hall  as  well  as  the  in- 
side, including  even  the  tiles  of  the  roof. 

In  the  "Bearing  the  Cross"  the  effect  of  depth  is  gained  by  the 
very  original  device  of  putting  a  clear  stream  or  pool  of  water  in  the 
immediate  foreground,  along  the  farther  side  of  which  the  troubled 
procession  wends  its  way  to  Calvary.  In  "The  Entombment"  the 
impression  of  space  is  conveyed  by  the  rocks,  the  small  bush  and  the 
mourning  figure  in  the  foreground. 

A  frequent  device  used  by  Master  Francke  in  creating  the  illusion 
of  depth  is  that  of  letting  persons  or  things  blot  out  in  part  the  persons 
or  things  supposed  to  be  behind  them  in  the  picture.  So  in  "The 
Flight  of  St.  Thomas"  the  hillock  cutting  off  from  view  the  lower  part 
of  the  legs  of  the  horse  on  which  the  saint  is  riding,  sets  the  horse 
back  from  the  foreground  of  the  picture,  and  thereby  conveys  an  im- 
pression of  its  depth.  In  "The  Martyrdom"  the  one  monk  cutting 
off  from  view  about  half  of  the  second  and  all  but  a  small  bit  of  the 


Photograph  by  Joh.  Nohring,  Lubeck 

MASTER  FRANCKE 

Thoma8  "a  Becket  Fleeixg  From  'Assassins 
kunsthalle,  hamburg 


Photograph  hy  Joh.  Nohring,  Lubeck 


MASTER  FRANCKE 

The  Entombment 
kunsthalle,  hamburg 


MASTER  FRANCKE  57 

face  of  a  third  conveys  the  idea  of  distance  and  depth  within  the 
picture. 

Master  Francke  does  not,  however,  succeed  in  detaching  his 
draped  figures  entirely  from  the  background;  they  still  remain  quite 
flat.  In  "The  Nativity,"  the  white  robes  of  the  Virgin  and  the  curtain 
held  by  the  angels  take  the  place  of  that  detachment  and  sculptural 
roundness  in  some  measure.  In '  'The  Scourging, ' '  the  curving  outward 
of  the  body  of  Christ  so  that  the  light  is  seen  between  it  and  the 
column  to  which  it  is  bound  gives  an  effect  of  modelling.  This 
problem  of  detachment  greatly  interested  the  artist,  though  he  did 
not  arrive  at  a  solution  of  it  but  only  at  the  use  of  skiKul  expedients. 
To  be  sure,  he  had  not  yet  learned  of  the  new  medium  of  oils 
which  the  Van  Eycks  were  just  at  this  time  beginning  to  use  in 
the  neighbouring  Netherlands;  the  German  master  worked  only 
in  tempera,  mixing  his  paints,  probably,  with  white  of  egg. 

The  people  in  Master  Francke's  pictures  are  not  individualised 
to  any  extent.  Here  and  there,  however,  a  portrait  head  appears, 
as,  in  "The  Entombment,"  that  of  Mary  Cleophas  with  her  hair  wound 
around  her  head  in  heavy  braids.  The  kings  in  "The  Adoration," 
Pilate,  Caiaphas  and  some  of  the  tormentors  in  "The  Scourging"  wear 
the  dress  of  the  period.  The  scenes  from  the  Life  of  St.  Thomas  are 
marked  by  greater  hfelikeness  and  more  detailed  characterisation 
than  the  more  sacred  scenes  from  the  Life  of  Christ.  St.  Thomas  on 
horseback  or  struck  down  by  his  assassin,  kneeling  in  all  his  pontifical 
robes,  his  jewelled  mitre  knocked  off  on  the  ground  beside  him,  the 
blood  streaming  down  his  face,  is  a  definite  individual.  His  assas- 
sins are  all  clearly  characterised,  the  man  clad  in  armour  and 
wearing  a  helmet,  so  strongly  that  it  might  be  a  portrait  from  fife. 

The  emotion  in  Master  Francke's  dramatic  pictures  is  nowhere 
of  extreme  violence  or  intensity.  The  villains  are  not  exaggerated 
into  malevolent  demons.  In  "The  FHght  of  St.  Thomas"  they  do, 
indeed,  mock  and  scoff  with  great  malignity,  but  in"  The  Martyrdom" 
they  are  only  grim.  Even  in  "The  Scourging  of  Christ"  only  the  one 
with  the  rope  girdle  and  strange,  rope  headdress,  who  holds  Christ 
by  a  lock  of  hair,  reveals,  in  the  movement  of  his  body,  real  joy  in 
his  nefarious  task.  In  "Bearing  the  Cross"  the  villains  are  more  brutal 
in   their   urging   of   the  half-fainting  prisoner  to  his   doom.     The 


58  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

suffering  Christ,  though  frail  and  emaciated,  is  not  fearfully  distorted 
either  in  limbs  or  features.  The  moiwners  observe  a  hushed  decorum 
in  their  grief.  Their  eyes  are  sometimes  red  with  weeping;  in  the 
Cross  Bearing  the  Virgin  hides  her  face  in  her  handkerchief;  in  the 
group  under  the  cross  she  folds  her  long,  fine  hands  upon  her  breast; 
one  of  the  other  women  presses  a  cool  finger  to  her  hot  and  swollen 
eyeballs.  In  "The  Entombment,"  Mary  Magdalen  does  give  way  more 
passionately  to  her  sorrow,  pushing  back,  with  a  movement  of  utter 
despair,  the  hair  which  has  escaped  from  its  covering  and  falls  about 
her  tear-stained  face.  Perhaps  the  most  impressive  figure  in  all 
these  Passion  scenes  and  the  one  which  expresses  total  abandonment 
to  grief,  is  the  wholly  draped  figure  in  red,  alone,  kneeling  between 
the  spectator  and  grave  in  "The  Entombment."  It  is  indeed  a  touch 
which  amazes  us  in  this  early  picture,  as  one  we  would  look  for 
only  from  the  most  modern  artists — from  Bocklin,  for  instance. 
The  lone,  shrouded  figure  crouching  there  grips  your  interest  on 
the  first  approach  to  the  picture  and  never  ceases  to  arouse  your 
wonder  and  to  hold  your  attention  and  sympathy. 

But  after  all,  no  full  appreciation  of  this  painter  is  possible  with- 
out taking  into  account  his  gifts  as  a  born  colourist.  His  colours 
are  now  joyous  and  glowing  and  blended  into  perfect  harmony,  now 
so  close  to  one  another  in  tone  as  to  reveal  a  quite  modern  feeling  for 
values,  while  his  attempts  to  create  an  atmosphere,  as  in  the  night 
scene  of  "The  Nativity"  and  the  subdued  silvery  tones  of  the 
"Man  of  Sorrows,"  are  astonishingly  successful  for  his  age. 

If  we  consider  the  two  great  early  painters  of  Hamburg  side  by 
side  we  find  in  the  XIV  century  master  a  joy  in  plant  and  animal  life 
which  is  lacking  in  Master  Francke.  Wherever  possible,  Bertram 
delights  in  picturing  the  forest  with  all  the  play  of  light  and  shadow 
among  its  trees;  Francke  introduces  it  in  only  two  pictures,  "The 
Flight  of  St.  Thomas  a  Becket"  and  "The  Nativity,"  in  which 
the  groves  are  very  similar  to  those  in  Master  Bertram's  pictures 
and  suggest  the  thought  that  Francke  had  been  his  pupil  in 
landscape  painting.  The  light  and  shade  are  much  less  closely 
observed,  however,  and  the  trees  possess  no  such  distinct  individu- 
ality. Animals,  too,  appear  in  Master  Francke' s  scenes  only  when, 
as  in  "The  Nativity,"  they  are  called  for  by  tradition;  they  are  quite 


MASTER  FRANCKE  59 

conventional  and  reveal  none  of  the  loving  observation  which  is 
so  evident  in  "The  Annunciation  to  the  Shepherds,"  "Joachim  among 
the  Shepherds,"  or  "The Nativity,"  of  Master  Bertram's  Buxtehude 
altar.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  creation  of  such  an  atmospheric 
effect  as  the  Ught  shining  in  the  darkness  of  the  night  of  "The 
Nativity,"  Master  Francke  is  immeasurably  in  advance  of  the  older 
painter.  He  is  also  able  better  to  control  the  movements  and 
glances  of  his  figures,  and  the  lines  and  angles  of  mouths  and  noses. 
Movement  he  gives  with  astonishing  naturalness  in  "  The  Resurrec- 
tion," in  the  swift  rising  of  Christ,  with  fluttering  flag  and  mantle, 
from  the  tomb.  Extraordinarily  rhythmic  is  the  arrangement  of 
the  figures  behind  the  grave  in  "The  Entombment,"  with  the 
sarcophagus  placed  diagonally,  the  body  of  Christ  at  a  still  sharper 
angle  and  the  lines  of  figures  swaying,  as  it  were,  in  two  parallel, 
diagonal  lines  of  three  and  three,  with  Mary  Cleophas  as  the 
central  point.  In  colouring,  too,  the  later  master  has  the  greater 
gift;  Master  Francke  delights  in  colour  not  merely  as  a  means  to 
an  end,  but  for  its  own  sake,  for  the  beauty  of  it. 

In  the  century  following  Master  Francke,  there  seem  to  have 
been  no  painters  of  great  distinction  in  Hamburg — so  far,  at  least,  as 
has  been  discovered — although  in  1490  they  were  suflSciently 
numerous  to  organise  a  Guild.  One  Heinrich  Funhof  is  men- 
tioned in  the  archives  as  the  painter  of  an  altar  for  St.  George's 
Hospital  Church  in  1483.  Absalom  Stumme  painted,  in  1499,  an 
altar  for  the  City  Council,  and  in  the  same  year  his  stepson, 
Heinrich  Bomeman,  finished,  for  the  Painters'  Guild,  the  altar  in 
the  Jacobikirche  which  presents  St.  Luke  painting  the  portrait  of 
the  Madonna,  St.  Luke  at  the  Supper  at  Emmaus,  and  the 
Burial  of  St.  Luke. 


CHAPTER  VII 

COLOGNE 

THE  IDEALISTS 

Master  Wilhelm — Master  of  the  Madonna  with  the  Bean  Blossom 
(Hermann  Wynrich?) — Stephan  Lochner 

IN  the  art  of  Cologne  in  the  XIV  and  first  half  of  the  XV  century 
before  the  painters  had  come  under  the  domination  of  the  art  of 
th  e  Netherlands,  the  aesthetic  and  religious  ideals  of  the  Middle 
Ages  find  full  expression.  The  Virgin  is  the  central  object  of  interest 
and  the  artistic  ideal  is  a  type  akin  to  those  in  the  illustrations  of 
the  Minne-songs.  Tall  and  slender  like  the  statues  in  their  narrow 
niches  in  the  Gothic  Cathedrals,  with  sloping  shoulders,  high  fore- 
head, heavy-lidded,  downcast  eyes,  small  nose,  finely  cut  lips, 
short  chin,  very  long  and  tapering  fingers,  the  Virgin  and  the  female 
saints  about  her,  with  their  air  of  sweet  detachment  from  the  world, 
are  little  more  than  shadowy  dream  forms,  incorporeal  abstractions 
who  would  inspire  a  poet  to  bring  to  them  the  homage  of  reverential 
devotion.  Yet  even  his  spiritual  offering  would  lie  all  unnoticed  by 
these  saints  who  heed  not  at  all  what  transpires  in  this  earthly 
world  but  are  lost  in  the  contemplation  of  divine  love  and  of  a 
heavenly  country.  In  this  utter  world-oblivion,  this  absorption  in 
things  of  the  spirit,  they  are  the  direct  expression  of  that  mystic 
philosophy  which  was  preached  with  such  ardour  and  received  with 
such  sympathy  in  Cologne.  In  her  cloisters  and  from  her  pulpits 
Eckart  enunciated  the  principle  of  the  indwelling  of  God  in  man  and 
the  oneness  in  God  "of  all  that  lives  and  moves,  that  blooms  and 
withers,"  and  taught  that  God  is  to  be  sought  in  his  creation,  in  a 
man's  own  heart,  through  the  sinking  of  self  in  contemplation. 
Johannes  Tauler  came  to  Cologne  from  Strassburg  to  preach 
sermons  of  which  the  keynote  was  the  renunciation  of  self,  the 
negation  of  the  personal  will  in  order  to  become  merged  into 
God.  As  very  illustrations  of  this  teaching  the  Virgin  and 
saints  stand  in  the  pictures  with  downcast  eyes   veiled  by  heavy 

60 


THE  IDEALISTS  61 

eyelids,  absorbed  in  devout  contemplation,  dreamy,  mystic.  It 
was  of  such  that  Tauler's  friend  Heinrich  Suso  spoke,  when  he 
recommended  the  faithful  to  surround  themselves  with  good 
pictures  "that  the  heart  might  ever  be  reminded  of  the  presence 
of  God  and  be  turned  toward  Him." 

A  number  of  pictures,  as  yet  unassigned  to  any  master,  remain  to 
us  from  the  early  years  of  the  XIV  century.  Of  these  the  triptych 
in  Cologne  Gallery  with  the  Crucifixion  as  central  theme,  may  be 
considered  representative.  The  types  and  garments  are  those  of 
mosaic  art,  the  technique  is  crude,  the  scenes  are  full  of  agitation, 
which  is  expressed  not  only  in  the  movements  and  gestures  of  the 
people  but  in  the  restlessness  of  the  folds  of  the  garments. 

The  one  great  artist  of  the  XIV  century  in  Cologne  whose  name 
has  come  down  to  us  i.«  Master  Wilhelm,  who  is  mentioned  in  the 
chronicles  in  1358,  1368,  1370,  1378,  as  Master  Wilhelm  of  Cologne, 
or  of  Herle,  a  Httle  village  near  Aix-la-Chapelle.  The  Limberg 
chronicler  wrote  of  him:  "At  this  time  there  was  a  painter  in 
Cologne  whose  name  was  Wilhelm.  He  was  the  best  painter  in 
all  the  German  lands,  and  was  so  esteemed  by  the  masters.  He 
painted  everyone  of  every  type  as  if  he  were  alive." 

Many  controversies  have  been  waged  over  the  works  attributed 
to  Master  Wilhelm.  A  picture  in  Berlin  Gallery  representing,  in 
thirty-three  sections,  on  a  gold  ground,  scenes  from  the  lives  of  Christ 
and  the  Virgin,  which  was  formerly  ascribed  to  him,  is  now  catalogued 
"Cologne  Master  about  1400."  In  Cologne  Gallery  the  remains  of 
mural  paintings  from  the  Rathaus  depicting  Emperor  Karl  IV  and 
four  other  men,  probably  judges  or  heroes,  are  authentic  and  are 
there  ascribed  to  "Master  Wilhelm,  1370."  Formerly  the  St.  Clara 
Altar  in  the  Cathedral  and  the  "Madonna  with  the  Bean  Blossom" 
in  the  Gallery  were  also  attributed  to  him.  Thode  and  others 
object  to  such  an  attribution,  that  it  is  unreasonable  to  assign  such 
a  work  as  the  "Madonna  with  the  Bean  Blossom"  to  so  early  a  date  as 
the  middle  of  the  XIV  century;  that  it  is  so  closely  related  to  the  work 
of  such  a  Master  of  the  XV  century  as  Stephan  Lochner  that  it 
unquestionably  belongs  to  the  early  part  of  the  XV  century  and  was, 
in  all  probability,  the  work  of  such  a  pupil  of  Master  Wilhelm's  as 
his  successor  in  the  headship  of  the  school  in  Cologne,  Hermann 


62  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

Wynrich.  This  Hermann  Wynrich  from  Wesel,  first  mentioned 
in  Cologne  in  1387,  was  a  pupil  of  Master  Wilhelm's,  who, 
after  his  master's  death,  bought  his  house,  married  his  widow, 
Frau  Jutta,  and  became  head  of  his  school.  He  was  evidently 
held  in  high  esteem  as  a  painter,  for  the  Guild  appointed  him 
five  times  as  its  Senator  in  the  City  Council,  for  the  last  time 
in  1414,  in  which  year  he  died. 

The  largest  and  most  important  work  of  the  master,  whom  we 
shall  call  by  his  name,  is  the  St.  Clara  Altar,*  which  now  forms 
the  High  Altar  in  Cologne  Cathedral.  The  altar  is  built  in 
Gothic  style.  On  the  door  of  the  shrine  is  represented  a  priest 
in  the  act  of  elevating  the  Host;  about  him  are  acolytes  holding 
candles  and  his  mitre.  On  either  side  are  twelve  pictures  in  two 
rows,  one  above  the  other,  the  lower  representing  scenes  from 
the  youth  of  Christ,  the  upper,  scenes  from  his  Passion.  The 
scenes  from  his  childhood  and  youth  are  idyllic;  the  people 
move  in  an  atmosphere  of  childlike  innocence,  unconscious  of 
aught  save  love  and  tenderness.  In  the  Passion  scenes,  the 
artist  seeks  the  world  over  for  villains  bad  enough  to  be  the  tor- 
mentors of  the  Holy  One.  Unequal,  with  his  lyric  gifts,  to  pre- 
senting the  dramatic  scenes  with  the  tragic  intensity  they  de- 
mand, these  demoniacal  men  usually  fail  to  be  convincing  and 
even,  Hke  a  child's  conception  of  pirates,  in  their  exaggeration 
and  unreality  appeal  to  our  sense  of  humor.  In  the  Crucifixion 
the  painter  does  not  make  any  attempt  at  realism,  but  presents 
it  in  the  strictly  traditional  manner. 

The  outer  sides  of  the  outer  wings  of  the  altar  are  later  works; 
they  are  painted  on  linen  stretched  over  wood,  while  the  rest  of  the 
altar  is  on  wood. 

A  triptych  of  much  beauty,  in  Cologne  Gallery,  "The  Madonna 
with  the  Bean  Blossom,"  ascribed  to  the  same  master — whether  Her- 
mann Wynrich  or  Master  Wilhelm — has  already  been  mentioned.  On 
the  central  section  are  the  Madonna  and  Child,  on  the  side  panels 
St.  Barbara  with  tower  and  palm  and  St.  Catherine  with  sword  and 
wheel.  The  Virgin  is  painted  in  half  length,  robed  in  blue  and  wearing 
a  brown  mantle.     Over  her  head  she  wears  a  drapery  in  the  same 

*  So  called  because  it  was  originally  in  St.  Clara's  Church,  Cologne. 


STEFAN  LOCHNER 

Madonna  in  Rose  Arbour 
wallraf-richartz  museum,  cologne 


THE  IDEALISTS  63 

two  colours,  which,  in  front,  permits  much  of  her  reddish-gold  hair  to 
be  seen.  In  her  left  hand  she  holds  a  branch  of  the  garden  bean 
plant  in  flower;  on  her  right  arm  the  Christ  Child  with  ringleted  hair 
and  wearing  a  curious  partial  drapery.  In  his  left  hand  he  holds  a 
rosary;  with  his  right  he  caresses  his  mother's  face. 

The  two  saints  on  the  wings  are  full  length  figures,  extremely  tall, 
with  exceedingly  narrow  shoulders;  they  wear  long  draperies  laid  in 
regular,  parallel  but  graceful  folds.  Their  golden-blond  hair  hangs 
to  full  length,  softly  waved;  delicately  wrought  crowns  rest  upon  their 
heads;  their  hands  are  exaggeratedly  long  with  tapering  fingers. 
Though  the  background  is  gold,  the  earth  on  which  they  are  standing 
is  blossoming  thickly  with  countless  small  flowers.  The  colours  are 
all  light  and  cheerful,  with  much  gold  in  the  brocaded  stuffs  of  the 
saints*  gowns. 

But  more  than  by  the  charm  of  the  lovely  and  innocent  saints  in 
their  radiant  yet  softly  coloured  robes,  the  attention  is  held  and  the 
spirit  rested  and  refreshed  by  the  atmosphere  of  the  picture.  Over 
it  peace  seems  to  brood  visibly,  such  quietness,  such  contempla- 
tive stillness  reigns.  All  the  persons  portrayed  are  utterly  uncon- 
scious of  themselves  and  of  us,  absorbed  as  they  are  in  their  mystical 
visions. 

A  picture  which  is,  in  subject,  a  twin  sister  to  the  "Madonna 
with  the  Bean  Blossom"  is  the  "Madonna  with  the  Pea  Blossom"* 
in  the  Germanic  Museum,  Nuremberg.  It  presents  a  youthful 
Virgin  of  considerable  charm,  with  the  Child  in  her  arms;  each 
holds  a  pea  blossom. 

This  master  of  many  names  has  recently  received  yet  another. 
He  has  become  known  as  the  Master  of  St.  Veronica,  from  the  picture 
in  Munich  Pinakothek  representing  St.  Veronica  holding  the  hand- 
kerchief on  which  is  the  thorn-crowned  head  of  the  Man  of  Sorrows; 
in  each  of  the  lower  corners  of  the  picture  are  three  small  singing 
angels. 

As  the  centre  of  the  art  Hfe  of  Cologne  this  artist  gathered  about 
him  a  large  school  of  pupils  who  continued  to  work  into  the  middle 
of  the  XV  century.     Most  famous  of  them  all  was  Stephan  Lochner, 

*  Suspected  by  some  recent  investigators  of  being  a  counterfeit,  painted  in  the  early  part  of  the 
XIX  century. 


64  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

the  greatest  painter  Cologne  was  to  know  in  all  her  art  history. 
Master  Stephan  was  born  in  Meersburg,  on  Lake  Constance,  but 
his  life  as  an  artist  was  all  spent  in  Cologne.  The  first  record  of  his 
residence  there  dates  from  October  27th,  1442,  when  he  and  his  wife 
Lisbeth  bought  a  house  near  the  Cathedral.  He  must  have  pros- 
pered, for  two  years  later,  in  1444,  he  sold  this  house  and  bought  a 
much  larger  one.  In  1448  he  was  elected  by  his  Guild  Senator  to 
the  City  Council,  an  honour  which  was  again  conferred  upon  him  in 
1451,  in  which  year  he  died. 

When  Durer  was  in  Cologne  in  October,  1520,  on  his  way  to  the 
Netherlands,  he  recorded  in  his  diary: — "Item,  have  given  two  white 
pfennig  for  opening  up  the  picture  Master  Stephan  made  in  Cologne.'* 
This  picture  was  the  altar  which  was  painted  for  the  Rathaus 
Chapel,  the  building  of  which  was  finished  in  1426;  it  has  been  since 
1810  in  St.  Michael's  Chapel  in  the  Cathedral. 

On  the  outside  is  the  Annunciation.  The  Virgin,  girlish  look- 
ing, her  hair  falling  in  heavy,  wavy  masses  over  her  shoulders,  her 
very  full  mantle  hanging  in  soft,  lightly  broken  folds,  is  kneeling  at  a 
carved  prayer  desk  on  which  lies  an  open  book.  The  impression  of 
the  interior  of  a  room  is  given  by  a  rich,  brocaded  curtain  hung 
from  a  rod  across  the  background  of  the  picture.  Against  it  is 
placed  a  seat  on  which  are  cushions  and  a  vase  of  lilies.  On  the 
other  wing,  with  a  similar  curtain  as  background,  the  angel,  who 
has  entered  through  a  door  with  round  arch,  which  is  visible  on 
the  right,  kneels  lightly,  his  great  wings  still  spread  for  flight.  In 
his  hand  he  bears  a  sceptre  and  a  scroll  on  which  is  written  his 
message. 

When  the  altar  is  open,  the  central  section  shows  the  Adoration 
of  the  Kings;  on  the  wings  are  the  patron  saints  of  Cologne,  Ursula 
and  Gereon,  with  their  companions. 

The  Virgin  in  the  Adoration,  wearing  a  crown  and  sitting  upon  a 
throne,  holds  the  Christ  Child  who,  with  upraised  fingers,  blesses  the 
white-bearded  king  in  the  gold-brocaded,  ermine-trimmed,  red 
velvet  mantle,  who,  kneeling  before  him,  presents  the  rich  gifts  he  has 
brought  to  this  infant  King  of  Kings.  Behind  this  venerable,  kneeling 
king  with  his  life-like  attitude  and  expression,  is  a  group  of  his 
followers  who  bear  a  banner  blazoned  with  the  star  and  crescent. 


THE  IDEALISTS  65 

Among  them  stands  out  conspicuously  a  handsome  young  prince 
with  ringleted  hair,  wearing  a  diadem.  On  the  right  are  the  other 
two  kings  with  their  attendants  bearing  gifts.  In  the  upper  air  circle 
little  angels  with  wide-spread  wings,  two  of  them  peeping  over  the 
back  of  the  throne  with  all  the  eager  interest  and  curiosity  of  human 
children.  Indeed  angels  in  German  pictures  differ  from  those 
represented  in  the  art  of  any  other  country.  Throughout  its  whole 
course  from  Master  Bertram  and  Stephan  Lochner  to  Diirer,  we  find 
them  the  same  tiny,  eager,  winsome  beings — except  when,  for  a 
period,  the  influence  of  the  Flemish  painters  was  so  absolute  that 
the  German  painters  adopted  the  large,  gracefully  draped  angel 
universal  in  the  art  of  the  Netherlands.  In  Italian  art  we  find 
the  sturdy,  bacchanalian  putti,  the  graceful,  tall  angels  and,  in  the 
Venetian  pictures,  the  small,  music-making  angels  which  yet  are 
much  larger  and  more  mature  than  the  angels  in  the  German 
altar-pieces.  In  such  a  picture  as  Raphael's  "Madonna  of  the 
Baldachin"  the  angels  reading  the  scroll  are  not  large,  it  is 
true;  but  in  their  winged  nudity,  with  their  worldly-wise  air,  they 
are  rather  little  pagan  Amors  than  angels.  The  characteristically 
German  angels  in  art  are  very  small,  round-faced,  alert,  fairy- 
like creatures,  dressed  in  straight,  scant  little  dresses,  and  with 
large  wings  and  short,  curly  hair.  They  are  always  so  interested, 
so  intent,  so  busy.  They  worship  with  such  devoted  love,  they 
play  with  such  whole-souledness,  they  bring  apples,  flowers  or 
whatever  offers,  with  such  eagerness  to  the  Holy  Child!  In  the 
incessant  activity  of  such  tiny  creatures  there  is  something  ten- 
derly humorous,  while  their  simplicity  and  innocence  is  indescrib- 
ably touching. 

On  the  left  wing  of  the  altar,  St.  Ursula  of  Cologne,  in  an  ermine- 
trimmed  mantle,  wearing  a  crown  and  holding  in  her  clasped  hands 
the  arrow,  which  is  the  syn^bol  of  her  martyrdom,  advances 
slowly  and  reverently  toward  the  central  group.  In  her  train 
are  the  Prince  her  lover,  a  Pope,  a  Bishop  and  many  lovely 
maidens  with  very  full  draperies,  round,  cliildish  faces  and  an  ex- 
pression of  innocence  and  such  absorbed  devotion  that  only  one 
of  all  the  company  lets  her  eyes  stray  toward  the  spectator.  On 
the  right  wing,  St.  Gereon  accoutred  in  full  armour,  the  cross  as 


66  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

his  device  on  breastplate  and  banner,  is  attended  by  a  company 
of  youthful  knights. 

The  Virgin  in  the  Adoration  wears  the  conventional  garments, 
but  fur-lined;  all  the  others  wear  the  costumes  of  1440-1450,  made  of 
beautiful  materials,  richly  trimmed,  and  in  glowing  colours.  The 
types  are  stronger  physically  and  more  human  than  those  on  the 
St.  Clara  altar.  The  shoulders  of  the  women  are  still  very  narrow, 
but  the  face  has  a  bony  frame,  the  hands  are  shorter  and  more 
capable,  the  throat  is  quite  muscular.  The  men  are  remarkably 
able-bodied;  St.  Gereon  stands  firmly  planted  on  both  feet,  a  splendid 
type  of  young  manly  vigour  and  determination.  The  Christ  Child  is 
in  beauty  of  form  and  correctness  of  drawing  the  most  perfect  in  the 
XV  century,  while  the  head  of  the  kneeling  king  might  almost  find  a 
place  in  a  Leonardo  cartoon.  Here  and  there  is  a  figiu-e  which  was 
evidently  inspired  by  a  real  and  living  person,  but  the  lifelikeness  is 
not  strongly  insisted  upon.  The  atmosphere  remains  unworldly; 
like  the  little  angels  looking  over  the  back  of  the  throne,  all  the 
participants  in  this  ceremonial  occasion  are  absorbed  in  the  Babe 
whose  little  foot  the  mother  holds  with  such  human  tenderness, 
while  he  so  solemnly  gives  his  divine  benediction. 

Here  again  we  note  a  German  sentimental  touch.  The  relations 
between  the  Virgin  Mother  and  her  divine  Son  never  lose  their 
human  element.  In  the  art  of  Italy  and,  in  large  measure,  of  the 
Netherlands,  the  Virgin  is  usually  but  the  bearer  of  God  Incarnate, 
whom  she  presents  to  the  world  for  its  worship  and  adoration.  In 
German  art,  the  Child  is  not  only  Son  of  God,  but  Son  of  Mary  and 
there  is  in  almost  all  Madonna  pictures  some  touch  which  reveals  the 
human  love  between  mother  and  babe,  as  the  Virgin  holding  his  tiny 
foot  in  this  altar  of  Master  Stephanas  or  the  child  caressing  the 
mother's  face  in  the  "Madonna  with  the  Bean  Blossom." 

Painted  probably  at  an  earlier  date  than  the  altar  in  the  Cathe- 
dral, was  the  "Madonna  with  the  Violet"  in  the  Archiepiscopal 
Museum  in  Cologne,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  all  German  pictures. 
In  front  of  a  brocaded  curtain  stands  the  Virgin  Mother,  tall,  slight, 
girlish,  yet  stately,  too,  by  virtue  of  her  reserve  and  dignity.  Her 
brilliant  red  mantle  falls  from  her  slender  shoulders  to  hang  in 
unstudied  and  graceful  folds,  turned  back  here  and  there  to  reveal  the 


THE  IDEALISTS  67 

white  lining  and  the  blue  robe  underneath.  Her  face  is  finely  oval, 
with  straight  nose,  large  eyes  and  high  forehead;  the  flesh  tints  are 
soft  and  clear.  On  her  head  she  wears  a  jewelled  diadem;  her  pale, 
red-gold  hair  is  caught  at  the  nape  of  the  neck,  to  fall  again  loosely  in 
long,  heavy,  curling  strands.  In  her  left  hand  she  holds  a  violet;  on 
her  right  arm  she  bears  the  Child,  in  a  straight  dress  of  transparent 
gauze.  The  flesh  is  a  marvel  of  softness,  the  rounding  of  the  small 
body  of  unusual  beauty.  The  face  is  babyish  though  wholly  grave 
as  he  raises  the  fingers  of  his  right  hand  to  bless  the  small,  kneeling 
nun,  in  black,  fur-lined  mantle,  with  white  robe  and  headdress, 
who,  as  the  donor  of  the  pictiu'e,  is  presented  in  exceedingly  small 
proportions.  This  was,  according  to  the  inscription,  Elizabeth  of 
Reichenstein,  who  afterward,  in  1452,  became  abbess  of  St. 
Cecilia's   Cloister. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  brocaded  curtain  are  two  elfin  angels, 
the  one  writing  busily,  the  other  apparently  Hstening  intently  to  the 
music  made  by  the  three  angels  who  are  singing  in  the  golden  sky 
above,  where  also  God  the  Father  and  the  Dove  are  visible  between 
the  clouds. 

The  impression  given  by  the  picture  is  one  of  great  charm  of  the 
sweet,  serious  people,  glowing  yet  harmonious  colours,  an  all- 
pervading  atmosphere  of  unworldliness  and  that  mystic  apartness 
which  we  call  holiness. 

An  idyllic  scene  which  recalls  to  us  at  once  the  dreams  of  the 
Minnesingers  and  the  visions  of  the  Mystics  is  presented  in  this 
master's  "Madonna  of  the  Rose  Arbour"  in  Cologne  Gallery.  In  a 
bower  of  climbing  vines  and  blossoming  roses  and  lilies,  the  crowned 
Virgin,  dreamy  and  remote,  is  seated  on  a  veritable  carpet  of  flowers, 
holding  the  Babe  on  her  knee.  About  the  holy  pair,  in  semicircle, 
crowd  tiny  angels  with  outspread  wings,  adoring,  bringing  gifts 
and  making  music  on  the  organ,  psaltery,  harp  and  viol.  In  the 
upper  air  two  of  them  hold  back  a  gold-brocaded  curtain  to  reveal 
God  the  Father,  the  Dove  and  a  heaven  full  of  cherubs.  The 
Virgin  is  robed  entirely  in  blue,  dark,  intense  yet  softly  luminous; 
the  angels,  in  pink,  red  and  yellow,  are  like  flowers  about  her. 
It  is  a  very  small  picture,  like  just  a  line  of  perfect  poetry,  a 
strain  of  exquisite  melody.     The  stillness  of  some  of  these  Ma- 


68  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

donna  pictures  might  be  too  unearthly,  their  holiness  too  oppres- 
sive, were  it  not  relieved  by  the  quick  movements  of  the  angels 
bearing  their  eager  tribute. 

The  beauty  of  such  a  picture  made  itself  felt  at  this  period  in 
Northern  Italy  and  the  influence  of  Stephan  Lochner  and  of 
other  early  masters  of  Cologne  is  very  evident  in  such  a  work 
as  Stefano  da  Zevio's  "Madonna  in  the  Garden,"  in  Innsbruck,  in 
which  the  artist  takes  up  the  theme,  adopts  the  types  and  tries 
to  infuse  into  the  picture  the  sentiment  of  the  German  School. 

More  full  of  action  than  the  Madonna  pictures  is  the  "Presenta- 
tion in  the  Temple,'*  painted  for  St.  Catherine's  Church,  Cologne,  in 
1447,  but  now  in  Darmstadt  Gallery.  On  a  gold  background  are 
shown,  in  the  upper  air,  God  the  Father  and  angels  who  watch  the 
scene  in  the  cathedral,  where,  before  the  altar,  the  High  Priest,  in 
brocaded  robes,  solemn  and  devout  in  bearing,  holds  the  Christ  Child. 
Behind  him  stand  other  priests,  monks  and  citizens.  The  Virgin,  of 
the  type  of  the  Madonna  with  the  Violet,  kneels  with  eyes  cast  down, 
offering  the  doves.  Behind  her  are  attendant  maidens,  only  one  of 
whom  ventures  to  look  out  at  us,  all  unseeingly.  In  front  of  the 
altar  are  tiny,  alert  and  interested  acolytes  carrying  candles.  A 
touch  of  humour,  which  brings  to  mind  the  Mystery  Plays  of  the 
period,  is  lent  by  Joseph,  who  is  conspicuously  busy  counting  out 
the  money  from  the  wallet  that  hangs  at  his  side. 

Stephan  Lochner's  limitations  are  manifest  in  such  an  altar  as 
that  painted  for  St.  Lawrence's  Church,  Cologne,  of  which  the  central 
section,  the  Last  Judgment,  is  now  in  Cologne  Gallery,  while  the 
wings,  which  show  the  Martyrdom  of  the  Apostles  and  six  saints, 
are  in  the  Stadel  Institute,  Frankfort,  and  in  Munich  Pinakothek. 
In  the  Last  Judgment  the  Christ  enthroned  upon  the  rainbow  is 
much  too  gentle  to  be  the  judge  of  all  the  world;  the  fat  monks, 
the  popes  and  bishops,  the  kings,  the  extortioners  and  other 
sinners  whom  the  devils  seize,  do  not  awaken  in  us  any  sense  of 
horror  or  of  pity  in  the  overwhelming  calamity  which  has  befallen 
them,  but  rather  provoke  a  smile  at  their  sorry  plight.  But  the 
lines  of  the  Blessed  whom  angels  lead  through  those  great  Gothic 
gates  to  Paradise,  while  choirs  of  angels  sing  songs  of  gladness! 
These  move  us  almost  to  tears  by  their  childlike,  wondering  joy 
as  upon  their  faces  shines  the  light  of  the  new,  eternal  morning. 


STEFAN  LOCHNER 

Madonna  with  the  Violet 

archbishop's  palace,  cologne 


CHAPTER  Vm 

COLOGNE 

THE  REALISTS 

Master  of  the  Life  of  Mary — Master  of  the  Glorification  of  the  Virgin — Master  of 
St.  George's  Altar — Master  of  the  Holy  Kinship — Master  of  St.  Severin — 
Master  of  St.  Bartholomew 

SO  great  an  artist  as  Stephan  Lochner  naturally  attracted 
many  students  to  his  workshop  and  inspired  many  imitators 
to  work  in  his  manner.  A  pupil  whose  work  so  closely  resembled 
his  master's  that  it  was  for  a  long  time  attributed  to  Lochner  him- 
self, is  known  as  the  "Master  of  the  Heisterbach  Altar"  from  the 
altar  brought  from  the  httle  Rhineland  village  of  that  name  and  now 
in  sections  in  Cologne,  Munich  and  other  galleries.  Another  pupil 
painted  the  fourteen  scenes  from  the  Life  of  St.  Ursula,  in  Cologne 
Gallery.  But  though  there  were  many  painters  who  worked  in 
Stephan  Lochner's  manner,  his  influence  in  Cologne  was  not  enduring, 
nor  was  any  other  great  artist  raised  up  to  take  his  place  and  to  carry 
on  the  development  of  painting  in  Cologne  along  its  own  original  and 
characteristic  lines.  It  is  indeed  questionable  if  any  marked  degree 
of  development  would  have  been  possible,  the  limitations  were  so 
definite.  It  is  barely  thinkable  that  a  great  genius  might  have 
brought  it  to  its  fullest  perfection  in  an  art  expression  which 
would,  possibly,  have  been  similar  to  that  of  the  English  Pre- 
Raphaelites.  No  such  genius  appeared,  however,  but  instead,  a 
powerful  influence  from  without  invaded  the  art  of  Cologne  and 
ended  by  dominating  it  completely.  During  the  second  half  of  the 
XV  century  the  realistic  and  technically  capable  art  of  the 
Netherlands  rushed  like  a  mighty  tidal  wave  over  the  lyric, 
dreamy,  mystical  art  of  Cologne  and  swept  it  out  of  being. 
Cologne  painters  in  the  second  half  of  the  XV  century  adopted 
all  the  characteristics  of  the  school  of  the  Van  Eycks,  especially 
of  such  masters  as  Roger  van  der  Weyden,  Dirk  Bouts  and  Hans 
Memling.    The  types  became  larger  and  more  robust;  the  faces 

69 


70  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

were  constructed  over  a  bony  frame;  the  knuckles,  joints  and 
muscles  were  emphasised;  the  gold  background  was  superseded  by 
landscape;  the  colours  were  mixed  in  oils,  which  gave  more  body 
to  the  figures  and  contributed  to  their  detachment  from  the  back- 
ground and  to  a  gain  in  the  apparent  depth  of  the  picture;  the 
light  was  broad  daylight,  which  brought  out  every  detail,  even 
to  the  windows  of  the  houses  and  the  leaves  of  the  shrubs  in  the  remote 
distance. 

The  larger  bodies  of  bone  and  flesh,  the  individual  types  and  the 
deeper  colours  inevitably  wrought  a  change  in  the  atmosphere  of  the 
pictures.  These  were  not  visionary  saints  but  human  people  and  the 
scenes  in  which  they  were  presented  were  happenings  in  real  life. 
Before  these  new,  vital  conceptions,  expressed  with  such  command  of 
technical  resources,  the  unscientific,  unrealistic  art  of  Cologne  could 
not  stand.  It  yielded  itself  completely,  and  its  painters  emulated 
the  Flemish  masters  so  ardently  that  in  the  second  half  of 
the  XV  century  it  is  sometimes  difficult  to  distinguish  between  the 
pictures  of  the  two  schools.  Yet  even  in  this  period  the  old  spirit 
lingers  in  the  German  pictures  and  there  still  clings  to  them  an 
atmosphere  of  detachment  from  the  world  which  is  foreign  to  the  vig- 
orously human  and  worldly  types  in  the  works  of  the  masters  of 
the  Netherlands. 

One  of  the  Cologne  painters  who  was  influenced  in  a  marked 
degree  by  the  art  of  the  Netherlands  was  the  Master  of  the  Life  of 
Mary  (Meister  des  Marienlebens),  who  worked  in  the  years  between 
1460  and  1480.  He  has  been  named  from  his  chief  work,  an  altar 
in  Munich  Pinakothek — with  a  separate  panel  in  the  National 
Gallery,  London — which  represents  in  eight  scenes  the  principal 
moments  in  the  life  of  the  Virgin.  The  types,  garments,  headdresses 
and  landscapes  all  resemble  those  in  Roger  van  der  Wey den's  pic- 
tures; some  of  the  scenes  are,  indeed,  almost  like  free  reproductions 
of  the  same  scenes  in  Roger's  altar  of  the  "Adoration  of  the  Magi" 
in  the  Pinakothek.  But  though  the  landscape  is  worked  out  in  great 
detail,  the  Master  of  the  Life  of  Mary  is  old-fashioned  enough  to 
prefer  a  gold  background  or  sky.  The  people  are  not  quite  so  robust 
as  in  Roger's  altar-pieces;  the  faces  and  forms  are,  as  a  rule,  less 
bony,  the  contours  more  rounded,  the  hair  softer,  and  the  people 


THE  REALISTS  71 

characterised  by  a  contemplative  or  sentimental  quality  which 
marks  the  master  as  belonging  to  Cologne. 

The  Master  of  the  Lyversberg  Passion  (Meister  der  Lyvers- 
bergischen  Passion),  named  after  the  altar  containing  eight 
scenes  from  the  Passion  of  Christ  which  came  to  Cologne  Gal- 
lery from  the  collection  of  Jacob  Lyversberg,  is  now  generally 
accepted  as  identical  with  the  Master  of  the  Life  of  Mary.  As 
the  scenes  from  the  Passion  are  less  sure  in  execution  than  those 
from  the  Life  of  the  Virgin,  they  are  considered  earlier  works. 

A  second  painter  who  was  dominated  by  the  influence  of  the  art 
of  the  Netherlands,  was  the  Master  of  the  Glorification  of  Mary 
(Meister  der  Verherrlichung  Maria),  who  worked  between  1460  and 
1480,  and  who  is  named  from  his  chief  work  in  Cologne  Gallery. 
This  altar-piece  shows  the  Virgin  enthroned  upon  clouds  which  are 
upheld  by  angels,  holding  the  Child,  to  whom  she  offers  an  apple 
by  way  of  diversion.  In  the  clouds  above  are  God  the  Father, 
the  Dove  and  angels.  On  the  earth  beneath  is  the  Immaculate 
Lamb,  from  whose  heart  blood  is  gushing  into  a  chalice,  as  in 
the  Van  Eyck's  Ghent  Altar.  Away  to  the  gold  background  a 
landscape  stretches,  with  a  city,  a  river  and  high  rocks  in  front  of 
which  stands  a  sybil,  who  is  pointing  out  the  Virgin  to  the  kneel- 
ing Emperor  Agustus  and  his  train.  To  the  right  are  Saints 
John  the  Baptist,  Martin,  Gregory  and  others;  to  the  left,  St. 
Catherine  with  crown,  wheel  and  sword  and,  behind  her,  St. 
Bridget  with  her  cow,  Barbara,  Clara,  Ursula,  CeciHa  and  Mary 
Magdalen.  The  types  are  strong  and  muscular,  the  landscape 
similar  to  that  in  the  pictures  by  the  Master  of  the  Life  of  Mary; 
the  colours  are  dark,  the  flesh  tones  grey  with  heavy  shadows. 

A  contemporary  of  the  Master  of  the  Life  of  Mary  was  the 
painter,  who,  from  his  series  of  nine  scenes  from  the  legend  of  St. 
George,  is  known  as  the  Master  of  St.  George's  Altar  (Meister  der 
Georgslegende).  The  artist  tells  his  stories  in  minute  detail,  but 
with  httle  joy  in  the  telling,  for  his  people  are  very  plain,  with  flat 
faces,  excessively  high  foreheads  and  short,  square  chins,  and  his 
colouring  is  dull,  with  the  flesh  tones  grey  and  muddy. 

A  master  whose  works  reveal  the  influence  of  Hans  Memling  is 
the  Master  of  the  Holy  Kinship  (Meister  der  Heiligen  Sippe),  who 


72  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

worked  on  into  the  XVI  century,  as  he  was  active  in  Cologne  from 
1480  to  1520.  The  "Holy  Kinship"  triptych  in  Cologne  Gallery 
shows,  in  the  central  picture,  the  Virgin  and  St.  Anne  seated  before 
a  brocaded  panel  hung  in  the  manner  beloved  by  the  painters  of  the 
Netherlands.  Between  them,  they  hold  the  Christ  Child,  who  is 
reaching  out  to  the  left  toward  St.  Catherine,  to  place  on  her  finger 
the  betrothal  ring.  To  the  right  is  St.  Barbara,  seated  beside  her 
tower  and  reading  in  an  illuminated  book;  behind  her  stands  her 
father.  On  low  stools  in  the  foreground  are,  to  the  right,  Mary 
Salome  with  the  small  James  and  John  playing  together  at  her  knee; 
to  the  left,  Mary  Cleophas,  nursing  at  her  breast  a  babe  whose 
attention  little  Simon  Zelotes  is  trying  to  attract  by  offering  him 
an  apple.  Judas  Thaddeus  and  James  the  Lesser  playing  on  the 
ground  complete  this  group.  Others  of  the  "Kinship"  are  of  the 
company.  Through  the  opening  between  the  outer  pillars  and 
the  tapestry  panel  look  Joachim  and  Joseph,  just  as  Memling  looks 
in  through  a  window  at  the  Holy  Night  he  has  portrayed.  The 
Joseph,  indeed,  bears  a  marked  resemblance  to  that  same  Memling 
portrait  of  himself.  In  the  upper  air,  behind  and  supporting  the 
baldachin,  are  angels  in  long,  floating  garments,  similar  to  those  in  al- 
most all  Flemish  pictures  of  the  period.  In  the  background  a 
glimpse  is  given  of  a  rolling  landscape  intersected  by  a  river;  to  right 
and  to  left  we  may  look  into  the  interior  of  two  rooms  and  see 
the  Presentation  in  the  Temple  and  the  Death  of  the  Virgin. 

On  the  inner  side  of  the  left  wing  are  St.  Roch  afflicted 
with  the  plague  and  St.  Nicasius  holding  the  severed  top  of  his  head 
in  his  mitre,  and  presenting  the  donor;  in  the  background  is  the 
Nativity.  On  the  right  wing  are  St.  Gudule,  bearing  a  lantern  and 
presenting  the  wife  of  the  donor,  and  St.  Elizabeth  giving  bread  to  a 
beggar;  in  the  background  is  the  Assumption  of  the  Virgin. 

On  the  outer  side  of  the  wings  are,  on  the  right,  St.  Leodogar, 
Bishop  of  Autun,  with  an  awl,  St.  Achatius  with  the  ten  thousand 
martyrs,  and  the  male  members  of  the  donor's  family;  on  the  left, 
St.  Cecilia  with  her  organ,  St.  Genevieve,  whose  candle  a  devil  is 
trying  to  blow  out  with  a  bellows,  St.  Helen  with  the  cross,  another 
saint  with  book  and  palm  and  the  female  members  of  the  donor's 
family. 


THE  REALISTS  73 

The  Virgin  and  saints  so  closely  resemble  Memling's  that  they 
might  almost  have  been  copied  from  his  Brussels  altar.  The  less 
sacred  persons  in  the  large  central  group  are  taken  direct  from  life. 
Joseph,  with  his  long  hair,  downcast  eyes  and  meditative  expression 
might  be  the  artist  himself;  Joachim,  with  large,  well-defined  features 
and  keen  glance,  a  patrician  of  Cologne;  St.  Catherine's  father  (?), 
with  the  close  clipped  hair  and  pointed  beard,  wearing  a  velvet  coat 
handsomely  trimmed  with  fur  and  passementerie,  was  undoubtedly  a 
professional  man  or  scientist  of  the  day;  he  recalls  many  XVI  century 
portraits  in  Dutch  art.  The  robes  worn  by  all  but  the  Virgin  and 
St.  Anne  are  of  extreme  elegance,  of  gold  brocaded  materials,  vel- 
vets and  ermine,  and  are  made  in  the  height  of  fashion.  The  artist 
is  particularly  fond  of  red  and  uses  it  lavishly.  The  colours  are  bright 
and  festive  but  not  blended  into  harmony.  The  scene  is  so  crowded 
with  figures  that  it  is  disquieting,  an  effect  which  is  heightened  by 
the  patchiness  with  which  the  colours  are  appHed.  The  gold  back- 
ground has  given  place  in  this  picture  to  a  blue  sky. 

An  artist  of  distinct  individuality,  whose  works  are  marked  by 
the  presence  in  a  high  degree  of  the  sentiment  characteristic  of  the 
older  Cologne  painters  is  the  Master  of  Saint  Severin,  who  worked 
in  Cologne  in  the  years  between  1500  and  1515  and  who  received  his 
name  from  his  paintings  of  saints  in  the  Church  of  St.  Severin.  An 
air  of  great  ceremony  pervades  all  his  pictures,  an  evident  en- 
deavour to  convey  the  extreme  distinction  of  his  personages,  which 
results  in  a  certain  stiffness  and  lack  of  virihty  in  his  types. 
His  people  all  bear  a  curious  resemblance  to  one  another,  in  their 
broad  and  prominent  cheek  bones,  arched  eyebrows,  eyes  which  seem 
to  curve  upward  slightly  at  the  outer  corners,  large  noses  and  short 
chins.  The  men  are  unusually  tall  and  big  and  in  their  features 
reminiscent  of  the  people  in  Dirk  Bout's  "Judgment  of  Kaiser  Otto,'* 
though  even  more  reserved  and  dignified  than  they.  The  large  altar 
in  the  Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston,  shows  in  the  central  panel, 
the  Crucifixion,  in  the  foreground  of  a  landscape  in  which  the  other 
scenes  of  the  Passion,  from  the  Triumphal  Entry  to  the  Ascension, 
are  depicted  in  small  proportions.  The  Crucifixion  reveals,  in  the 
centre,  facing  the  spectator,  the  Christ,  calm  and  controlled,  his 
eyes  closed,  his  face  unmarred  by  physical  suffering,  save  for  the 


74  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

blood  streaming  from  the  crown  of  thorns.  Placed  diagonally,  to 
right  and  left  of  the  central  cross,  are  the  crosses  to  which  the  two 
thieves  are  tied.  All  about  the  central  cross  throng  friends  and 
enemies.  The  Virgin  falls  fainting  into  the  arms  of  John,  whose 
lips  are  parted  in  loud  outcry;  Mary  Magdalen  kneeling  at  the  foot 
of  the  cross,  is  also  crying  aloud;  the  Centurion  is  proclaiming  his 
new-found  faith.  The  picture  impresses  us  with  the  restraint  and 
dignity  of  its  tall,  stiff  people,  who  seem  to  feel  not  so  much  personal 
grief  as  amazement  and  horror  which  speaks  through  their  staring 
eyes  and  parted  lips.  In  the  foreground  to  right  and  left  kneel 
rigidly  the  donors,  Konrad  von  Eynenberg  and  his  wife.  On  the 
wings  are  represented,  on  the  inner  sides,  the  Baptism  of  Christ  and 
Beheading  of  John  the  Baptist,  on  the  outer  sides,  the  Virgin  and  St. 
Christopher,  St.  John  the  Baptist  and  St.  Agnes,  with  donors. 

In  the  scenes  from  the  legend  of  St.  Ursula,  now  scattered 
through  Cologne,  Bonn,  the  Louvre  and  Other  galleries,  the  master 
has  been  at  great  pains  to  impress  us  with  the  eminence  of  the  saint's 
worldly  position.  The  scenes  transpire  in  very  large  rooms  arid  the 
persons  enacting  them  are  so  stately  and  ceremonious  that  they  pre- 
serve a  quite  unpractical  distance  from  one  another.  In  the  "Angel's 
Appearance  to  St.  Ursula"  the  light  effect  is  exceedingly  interesting. 
The  great  curtained  bed  is  set  facing  the  spectator;  the  saint  has 
awakened  and  raises  her  hands  in  prayer  as  the  angel  in  long,  white 
robes,  with  great  wings,  gives  her  his  message,  emphasizing  it  point 
by  point  on  his  fingers.  From  the  angel  radiates  a  light  which  dis- 
pels the  nightly  darkness  about  the  bed  of  the  youthful  saint. 
Up  a  flight  of  six  steps  in  the  rear,  in  a  Gothic  room  lighted  only  by 
a  candle,  we  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  Queen  taking  leave  of  her 
daughter  who  is  about  to  set  out  on  the  pilgrimage  the  angel  has 
commanded. 

Standing  before  this  cycle  of  St.  Ursula  pictures,  there  naturally 
come  to  mind  the  series  of  the  same  scenes  painted  about  the  same 
time  by  two  other  masters,  Hans  Memling,  of  the  Netherlands,  and 
Carpaccio,  the  Italian.  Memling  presents,  in  pictures  of  very  small 
dimensions,  several  innocent,  young  Dutch  maidens  of  the  bour- 
geoisie setting  forth  on  their  journeyings  with  much  of  the  stir  and 
bustle  inevitably  attendant  upon  such  undertakings.     The   scenes 


Photograph  by  Hermann,  Cologne 

MASTER  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW 

The  St.  Thomas  Altar 
wallraf-richartz  museum,  cologne 


THE  REALISTS  75 

are  intimate  and  tender.  Carpaccio's  cycle  is  a  revelation  of  the 
refined,  quiet  elegance  of  Venetian  patrician  life  of  the  period.  The 
scenes  are  stately  pageants  such  as  Venice  delighted  in,  with  jewelled 
robes,  floating  banners,  cities  hung  with  oriental  rugs  and  rich  bro- 
cades, cool  and  lofty  interiors.  The  German  master  does  not  pre- 
sume to  the  intimacy  of  Memling;  he  knows  nothing  of  the  gracious 
elegance  in  the  midst  of  which  Carpaccio's  people  move;  he  gives  us 
what  impresses  him  most;  the  almost  overpowering  dignity  and 
sanctity  of  the  principal  figures,  the  colossal  nature  of  the  under- 
taking, the  heavy  shadow  of  ultimate  tragedy  which  overcasts  all 
the  scenes  with  a  supernatural  seriousness. 

A  painter  who  possessed  remarkable  technical  facility  and  who, 
to  judge  from  his  works,  had  come  into  touch  with  the  art  of  Italy 
as  well  as  of  the  Netherlands,  was  the  Master  of  St.  Bartholomew, 
named  from  his  altar  in  Munich  Pinakothek.  The  Master  of  St. 
Bartholomew's  types  are  finer  and  more  delicately  featured  than 
those  of  any  of  the  other  Cologne  painters  of  this  period.  In  the 
St.  Bartholomew  altar,  which  presents  seven  saints  standing,  bear- 
ing their  symbols,  the  forms  of  St.  Bartholomew,  St.  Agnes  and  St. 
Cecilia  are  modelled  with  almost  sculptural  roundness  and  detach- 
ment from  the  background.  The  garments  are  beautifully,  if  some- 
what consciously,  draped;  the  landscape  details  are  reproduced  with 
careful  minuteness;  the  colouring  is  glowing  and  harmonious,  though 
with  a  certain  nervous  accentuation  of  local  colours;  the  finish  is  hard 
and  brilliant  like  enamel. 

A  certain  nervous  tension  characterises  this  master,  yet  not  so 
much  tension,  perhaps,  as  an  excessive  sensitiveness  which  creates 
in  and  through  his  people  an  atmosphere  of  disquiet.  Their  glances 
and  poses  are  marked  by  a  nervous  intensity  which,  subdued,  as  in 
the  figure  of  St.  Helena  in  the  St.  Thomas  altar  in  Cologne  Gallery, 
gives  the  impression  of  affectation,  and  unrestrained,  as  in  the  fig- 
ure of  St.  Thomas,  amounts  to  a  vulgar  curiosity  to  satisfy  his  doubts 
about  the  wounds  of  Christ  which  is  most  repellent. 

The  womanly  type  in  favour  with  the  Master  of  St. 
Bartholomew,  as  in  the  "Virgin  and  Child"  in  Cologne  Gallery,  for 
instance,  possesses  a  very  broad  forehead  with  remarkable  distance 
between  the  eyes,  which   are  prominent  and  downcast,  a  straight 


76  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

and  fine  nose,  a  mouth  small  out  of  all  proportion,  and  a  short  chin. 
The  exceeding  narrowness  of  the  lower  part  of  the  face,  with  the 
exaggeratedly  small  mouth,  taken  together  with  the  width  between 
the  eyes  gives  an  appearance  of  insincerity,  while  the  expression  is 
so  excessively  sweet  as  to  be  almost  simpering. 

That  the  painter  had  come  under  the  influence  of  Italian  art 
is  unmistakable  from  the  introduction,  in  *'The  Crucifixion,"  in 
Cologne  Gallery,  of  many  nude  cherubs  flying  about  the  cross, 
which  are  of  a  type  that  does  not  appear  in  the  art  of  either 
Germany  or  the  Netherlands. 

The  Master  of  St.  Bartholomew  was  not  an  original  talent  but 
an  eclectic  who  reflected  what  was  going  on  in  the  art  of  the  two 
other  countries  that  were  artistically  active  in  his  age.  Although  a 
younger  contemporary  of  the  Master  of  St.  Severin,  who  worked 
wholly  in  the  manner  of  the  XV  century,  much  in  the  Master  of  St. 
Bartholomew's  work  speaks  of  the  XVI  century  and  may  be  said  to 
mark  the  transition  to  later  art. 


CHAPTER  IX 

COLOGNE 

THE  PORTRAITISTS  OF  THE  XVI  CENTURY 

Jan  Joost  of  Calcar — Master  of  the  Death  of  Mary  (Joos  van  Cleve) — 
Barthel  Bruyn — Anton  Woensam — Master  Hildegard — Hans  von  Melem — 
Jacob  Bink 

NOT  only  did  Cologne  painters,  as  the  Master  of  the  Life  of 
Mary,  the  Master  of  the  Holy  Kinship,  and  others,  imitate 
with  great  faithfulness  the  art  of  the  Netherlands,  but  in 
the  opening  years  of  the  XVI  century  artists  from  the  Netherlands 
moved  to  Cologne,  where  they  executed  many  commissions  and 
founded  schools.  So  to  Calcar,  near  Cologne,  came  Jan  Joost  from 
Haarlem,  to  paint,  in  the  years  between  1505  and  1508,  the  wings 
of  the  High  Altar  in  St.  Nicholas*  Church.  Upon  the  completion 
of  this  work,  he  returned  to  Haarlem  where  he  was  active  until  the 
year  of  his  death,  1529. 

Another  Flemish  artist,  who  worked  in  Cologne  from  about  1515 
to  1530,  has  been  named,  from  his  principal  work,  the  Master  of  the 
Death  of  Mary  (Meister  des  Todes  der  Maria),  but  is  probably 
identical  with  that  Joos  van  Cleve  the  Elder,  who  was  born  about 
1485  and  died  in  Antwerp  1525. 

The  "  Death  of  the  Virgin,"  which  is  now  in  Cologne  Gallery,  was 
painted  in  1515  for  the  Hackeney  family  chapel,  and  about  four  years 
later  the  artist  painted  a  second  picture  with  this  same  subject 
and  almost  a  duplicate  of  the  Hackeney  picture,  for  the  Church  of 
Santa  Maria  in  Capitol.  This  is  the  "Death  of  the  Virgin"  which  is 
now  in  Munich  Pinakothek. 

In  the  central  section  is  the  Virgin,  lying  in  a  large,  canopied 
bed;  St.  John  is  holding  the  death  candle  in  her  hand.  Around  the 
bed  are  the  apostles  in  great  agitation;  some  are  running  hither 
and  thither,  some  are  reading  (one  wearing  spectacles!),  one  is  hasten- 
ing with  the  oil  of  anointing.  On  the  wings  are  the  donors  with  their 
patron  saints  in  a  landscape. 

The  Renaissance  details  in  the  architecture,  the  movement, 
the  draperies,  the  statuesque  figure  at  the  head  of  the  bed,  whose 

77 


78  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

garments  float  as  if  caught  by  a  strong  wind,  all  reveal  the  Italian 
influence  which  was  by  this  time  making  itself  felt  in  a  marked 
degree  in  the  works  of  other  masters  in  the  Netherlands.  The 
perspective  is  interesting  in  the  glimpse  given  into  a  house  across 
the  street;  the  lighting,  in  the  shadowed  corner  between  the  win- 
dows, the  light  and  shade  that  play  on  the  men  who  stand  in 
front  of  a  window  to  the  left,  and  the  strange  distortion 
of  the  features  of  the  man  who  is  blowing  the  incense  to  make 
it  burn  and  whose  face  is  lighted  by  the  flame.  The  drawing  in  these 
pictures  is  very  sharp  and  definite,  the  colouring  warm  and  rather 
heavy,  the  flesh  tones  reddish. 

In  the  later  works  of  the  Master  of  the  Death  of  Mary  Italian 
influence  is  yet  more  evident  and  as  several  of  his  works  are  to  be 
found  in  Italian  galleries,  it  is  reasonable  to  infer  that  he  made  a 
sojourn  of  some  length  in  that  country  as  well  as  in  Germany. 

Undoubtedly  a  pupil  of  the  Master  of  the  Death  of  Mary  was 
the  Cologne  painter,  Bartholommaus  de  Bruyn,  commonly  known  as 
Barthel  Bruyn,  who  was  especially  distinguished  as  a  portrait  painter. 
He  was  born  in  Cologne  in  1493;  in  1519  he  was  mentioned  as  one  of 
the  most  prominent  members  of  the  guild  of  painters;  in  1550  and 
again  in  1553  he  was  elected  to  the  City  Council;  he  died  in  1557. 

Among  his  early  works,  dating  from  about  1515,  is  an  altar  in 
Munich  Pinakothek  which  represents  Christ  on  the  Cross,  saints 
and  donors.  In  this,  as  in  his  other  altar-pieces,  the  influence  of 
his  master  is  unmistakable.  Barthel  Bruyn's  altars  are  not  particu- 
larly interesting  save  for  the  introduction,  now  and  then,  of  some 
persons  whose  lifelikeness  gives  promise  of  his  future  greatness  as 
a  portrait  painter. 

About  the  same  time  as  the  influence  of  Italy  became  conspicu- 
ous in  the  pictures  by  the  Master  of  the  Death  of  Mary,  it  made 
itself  felt  also  in  the  work  of  Barthel  Bruyn.  In  his  pictures  painted 
after  1524  the  people  are  larger  and  more  statuesque,  their  movements 
stately  and  swift  and  accomplished  with  a  large  sweep  of  draperies. 
Gradually  the  Roman-Italian  influence  dominated  his  work  entirely, 
with  the  same  results  as  in  the  case  of  the  Venetian,  Sebastian  del 
Piombo;  exaggerated  emphasis  was  placed  on  form,  the  colouring 
lost  its  warmth  and  beauty.     The  forms  in  the  master's  last  period 


Photograph  by  Franz  Hanfstaengl 

BARTOLOMMALS  BRUYN 

Portrait  of  Burgomaster  Johannes  van  Rtht 
kaiser  friedrich  museum,  berlin 


THE  PORTRAITISTS  79 

are  of  heroic  size,  the  poses  bold,  the  treatment  broad  and  super- 
ficial, the  colour  cold. 

Barthel  Bruyn  is,  however,  best  known  as  a  painter  of  portraits 
and  in  this,  his  special  field,  it  was  only  in  his  very  latest  work  that 
he  became  cold  and  uninteresting.  How  great  he  was  as  a  portrait 
painter  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  some  of  his  portraits  were  long 
attributed  to  Holbein.  In  their  execution  there  is  greater  breadth 
and  less  painfulness  of  detail  than  in  the  portraits  by  the  Master  of 
the  Death  of  Mary,  while,  at  his  best,  he  approaches  Holbein  in  the 
clearness  and  harmony  of  his  colours.  One  of  the  most  beautiful 
portraits  is  the  half-length  picture  of  the  Burgomaster  Johannes 
von  Ryht,  in  Berhn  Gallery,  which  was  painted  in  1525.  The  head 
is  given  with  fine  detachment,  the  thoughtful  eyes,  the  firm  mouth, 
all  the  expressive  features  which  reveal  the  whole  character  of  the 
man  are  presented  with  fidelity  yet  without  any  smallness,  hardness 
or  over-emphasis  of  details.  The  materials  in  the  garments  with 
their  fur  linings  are  well  painted;  the  colouring  is  harmonious. 
Another  remarkably  fine  portrait  is  that,  in  Cologne  Gallery,  of 
Burgomaster  Arnold  of  Brauweiler,  painted  in  1535. 

With  Barthel  Bruyn  worked  his  two  sons,  Arnt  and  Barthel 
the  Younger.  In  1543  Hermann  von  Weinsberg  wrote:  "Barthel 
Bruyn  is  the  first  painter  in  the  city,  and  after  him  his  sons."  Arnt 
Bruyn  was  a  member  of  the  City  Council  from  1565  to  1577  and  was 
succeeded  in  office  by  his  brother  Barthel.  It  has  so  far  been 
impossible  to  assign  works  definitely  to  these  two  artists. 

A  painter  who  was  born  in  Worms  but  who  set  up  his  studio  in 
Cologne  was  Anton  Woensam,  son  of  a  painter  Jasper  Woensam, 
who  seems  to  have  had  considerable  fame  in  his  day,  as  all  the  honours 
in  the  gift  of  the  Painters'  Guild  were  conferred  on  him.  No  authen- 
tic pictures,  however,  remain  to  us  from  his  hand.  Nor  have  many 
of  his  son  Anton's  been  preserved.  One  of  the  most  characteristic 
is  the  "  Christ  on  the  Cross,"  in  Cologne  Gallery,  which  was  painted  in 
1535  for  the  Carthusian  monks.  At  the  foot  of  the  cross  kneels 
Peter  Bloemvenna,  abbot  of  the  monastery;  below,  to  the  left,  are 
his  parents  and  sisters  and  brothers;  to  the  right,  his  grandparents, 
an  uncle  and  three  aunts.  To  the  left  of  the  cross  stand  the  Virgin, 
St.  John  and  St.  Peter;  to  the  right,  the  saints  of  the  Carthusian 


80  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

order,  Bruno,  Hugo  of  Grenoble  and  Hugo  of  Lincoln.  The  body 
of  Christ  is  quite  muscular  and  its  bony  structure  prominent.  The 
other  figures  are  slender,  their  garments  of  heavy  materials.  The 
kneeling  and  standing  people  are  arranged  with  considerable  monot- 
ony in  regular  rows,  but  the  heads  of  the  various  members  of  the 
abbot's  family  are  strongly  individualised;  indeed,  the  kneeling  men 
are  evidently  done  from  life,  and  the  portraits  are  not  flattering. 
The  background  is  a  landscape  with  mountains,  cities  and  a  lake; 
the  sky  is  filled  with  clouds. 

A  contemporary  of  Anton  Woensam*s  in  Cologne  was  Master 
Hildegard,  who,  in  1523,  painted,  quite  in  the  manner  of  the  Flemish 
artists,  an  altar  for  the  Catholic  Church  in  Dortmund  with  scenes 
from  the  Life  of  the  Virgin.  ' 

Of  Hans  von  Melem  only  one  authentic  work  remains — a  portrait 
of  himself  at  thirty-seven  years  of  age,  which  is  in  Munich  Pinakothek. 

A  Cologne  artist  who  wandered  to  Nuremberg  to  study  with 
DUrer,  was  Jacob  Bink,  whose  fame  rests  rather  on  his  engravings 
than  on  his  paintings.  During  the  latter  half  of  his  life  he  was  in 
the  service  of  King  Christian  III  of  Denmark  and  of  Duke  Albert  of 
Prussia,  as  architect,  sculptor  and  painter.  Of  paintings  from  his 
hand  there  remain  to  us  only  portraits — as  those  of  King  Christian 
III  and  his  Queen,  in  Copenhagen,  and  of  Duke  Albert  and  his  wife, 
in  Konigsberg. 

The  study  of  the  art  of  Cologne  brings  a  measure  of  disappoint- 
ment. It  did  not  develop  in  steady  progression  to  culminate  in  the 
XVI  century  in  masters  of  the  greatness  of  Diirer  and  Holbein. 
Instead,  after  the  middle  of  the  XV  century  it  fell  wholly  under  the 
domination  of  the  art  of  the  Netherlands,  to  which  its  individuality 
was  subordinated  to  such  a  degree  that  it  is  with  difficulty  that 
the  works  of  Cologne  artists  can  be  distinguished  from  those  of 
painters  in  the  Netherlands.  Such  an  imitative  art  could  possess 
within  itself  no  vital  element  that  would  grow,  develop  and  finally 
bring  forth,  in  the  fulness  of  its  strength,  such  masterpieces  of 
original  creative  genius  as  were  the  fullest  expressions  of  the  art 
of  Augsburg  and  Nuremberg.  In  truth,  the  art  of  Cologne  reached 
its  zenith  in  the  first  half  of  the  XV  century,  in  the  works  of 
Stephan  Lochner. 


CHAPTER  X 
WESTPHALIAN  PAINTERS 

Master  Conrad  Stollen — Master  of  Liesborn — N.  Suelnmeigr — Johann  Koer- 
becke — Gert  Von  Lon — Heinrich  and  Victor  Diinwegge — Master  of  Cappen- 
berg — Heinrich  Aldegrever — The  Tom  Ring  Family 

IN  Westphalia  the  wealthy  old  Hanseatic  town  of  Soest  was  the 
earliest  centre  of  art  activity,  bringing  forth  in  Conrad  Stollen 
a  painter  who  occupies  the  same  position  in  the  art  of  West- 
phalia as  the  Master  of  the  St.  Clara  Altar  in  the  art  of  the  first 
half  of  the  XV  century  in  Cologne.  Master  Conrad  is  mentioned 
as  priest  in  Nieder-Wildungen  in  1403;  his  altar  in  the  church  there 
is  dated  1404.  On  the  outside  of  each  of  the  two  wings  are  two  saints, 
on  the  inside,  four  scenes  from  the  youth  of  Christ  and  five  scenes  from 
his  Passion.  The  figures  are  very  slender,  with  narrow  shoulders, 
weak  limbs  and  poorly  modelled  hands  and  feet.  The  oval  of  the 
faces  is  sharp,  the  chins  are  quite  long  and  pointed.  These  people 
are  not  lacking,  however,  in  the  charm  of  dehcacy  and  refinement 
or  in  a  certain  appeahng  quahty  of  youth  and  frailty.  The  colours 
are  quite  bright  and  gay  but  less  agreeably  harmonised  than  in  the 
works  of  the  early  Cologne  masters;  the  flesh  tones  are  browner. 
The  crowns  and  halos  are  made  of  gilded  plaster  of  Paris  and  are 
apt  to  stand  out  so  conspicuously  as  to  seem  more  important  than 
the  people  who  wear  them. 

A  later  work  of  Master  Conrad's,  and  his  masterpiece,  is  the 
altar  of  St.  Nicholas'  Chapel,  Soest,  which  is  now  kept  in  the  Deanery. 
It  presents  St.  Nicholas  enthroned,  with  four  other  saints,  the  donor 
and  his  family.  The  bodies  are  lacking  in  constructive  framework, 
the  heads  too  heavy  for  the  slender  throats;  the  foreheads  are  ex- 
tremely high,  the  blond  hair  hangs  in  heavy  braids. 

In  the  church  in  Warendorf  is  a  Crucifitxion  by  Master  Conrad, 
dated  1414,  in  which  the  body  of  Christ  is  beautiful  in  hne,  though 
evidently  not  modelled  with  any  knowledge  of  anatomy.  The 
monstrously  ugly  tormentors  of  Christ  are  astonishingly  natural 
and  expressive  in  their  attitudes  and  movements. 

81 


82  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

The  altar  presented  by  Abbess  Segele  of  Hamme,  sometime 
between  1410  and  1422,  to  the  church  in  Frondenberg,  on  which 
are  represented  scenes  from  the  Life  of  the  Virgin,  suggests  contact 
with  the  School  of  Cologne  and  the  influence  of  the  Master  of  the 
Madonna  with  the  Bean  Blossom,  whose  types  the  Mary  and  Eliza- 
beth of  the  Frondenberg  altar  closely  resemble.  Westphalian  art 
shows  from  the  beginning  a  more  pronounced  realistic  tendency  than 
the  art  of  Cologne;  its  colouring  is  gayer  and  less  harmonious  and 
it  displays  always  a  marked  fondness  for  magnificent  robes  em- 
broidered with  flowers,  and  for  ornamentation  in  general. 

In  1465  Abbot  Heinrich  von  Cleve  consecrated  in  the  church 
at  Liesborn,  near  Mtinster,  a  High  Altar  and  four  chapel  altars  of 
which  the  chronicler  wrote:  "The  altars  he  consecrated  were  bril- 
liant with  gold  and  beautiful  colours,  so  that  their  artist  would,  accord- 
ing to  the  canons  of  Pliny,  have  been  accounted  by  the  Greeks  a 
master  of  the  first  rank.''  The  artist's  name  we  do  not  yet  know, 
but  he  is  called  from  these  works  for  the  cloister,  the  Master  of 
Liesborn. 

These  altars  were  sold  and  cut  in  pieces  in  1807  when  the  mon- 
astery was  secularised  and  Westphalia  created  a  kingdom  for  Jerome 
Bonaparte.  There  remain  to  us  therefore  only  broken  sections;  in 
Miinster  an  angel  from  "The  Crucifixion,"  bearing  a  chaKce,  and  five 
angels  adoring  the  Child;  in  the  National  Gallery,  London,  the  head  of 
the  Crucified  and  six  saints;  besides  some  sections  in  private  col- 
lections. 

The  faces  of  the  people  in  the  pictures  by  the  Master  of  Liesborn 
are  squarer  in  outline  than  Master  Conrad's  people;  the  eyes  are  large 
and  slightly  almond-shaped,  the  mouth  nobly  curved,  the  hair  soft  and 
treated  with  great  minuteness.  The  angels  wear  white  robes  and  long 
blue  mantles;  their  wings  are  many-coloured.  All  his  people  seem  to 
combat  a  slight  embarrassment  or  a  retiring  modesty  which  rather 
adds  to  their  charm  than  detracts  from  it.  That  the  master  had 
come  into  touch  with  the  art  of  the  Netherlands  and  had  learned 
from  it,  is  manifest  from  the  knowledge  of  perspective  shown  in  the 
interior  of  the  room  in  which  are  the  angels,  in  "The  Nativity,"  and 
from  the  medium  used,  which,  though  partly  tempera,  is  also  partly 
oils. 


Photograph  by  Dr.  Stoedtner,  Berlin 

CONRAD  STOLLEN  VON  SOEST 

Saints  Ottilib  and  Dorothea 
westphalian  museum,  mun8teb 


Photograph  by  F.  Bruckmann  A-G,  Munich 

MASTER  OF  LIESBORN 

Angel  Holding  a  Chalice 
we8tphalian  museum,  mun8teb 


WESTPHALIAN  PAINTERS  8S 

In  the  decade  after  the  Master  of  Liesborn  the  universal  move- 
ment toward  reaKsm  made  itself  felt  in  Westphahan  art  and  domi- 
nated most  disagreeably  the  work  of  a  painter  who  signed  himself 
N.  Suelnmeigr.  In  his  "  Holy  Night,"  in  MUnster  Gallery,  the  people 
are  unbeautiful  and  common-looking  though  robed  in  rich  brocades; 
in  his  other  four  pictures  in  the  Gallery  the  martyrdoms  of  Saints 
Stephen,  Clement,  Pantaleone  and  Lawrence  are  depicted  with 
coarse  and  violent  reahsm.  The  altar  in  the  Wiesenkirche  in  Soest, 
which  presents  the  Holy  Family  and  scenes  from  the  lives  of  Christ 
and  the  Virgin,  was,  in  all  probability,  from  the  hand  of  this  painter. 
The  figures  are  large-boned,  with  unlovely  features;  the  brilliantly 
coloured  garments  are  laid  in  many,  broken  folds;  the  colours  are 
vigorous  and  not  particularly  harmonious.  The  whole  impression 
given  is  that  of  the  sacrifice  of  beauty  in  a  struggle  for  truth  to 
nature. 

Another  leader  in  the  movement  toward  excessive  faithfulness 
to  nature  was  Johann  Koerbecke,  who  is  mentioned  in  the  archives 
of  Mtinster  in  the  years  from  1446  to  1491.  Several  works  from  his 
hand  are  in  the  Gallery  there  and  all  represent  scenes  from  the 
Passion,  which  offer  full  scope  to  his  drastic  realism.  Nor  is  the 
gloom  of  the  pictures  relieved  by  the  colouring,  which  is  dark  and 
heavy  even  in  the  flesh  tones. 

A  painter  who  belonged  in  point  of  time  to  the  XVI  century 
but  in  the  character  of  his  work  to  the  period  of  transition  from  the 
Master  of  Liesborn  to  the  realists,  was  Gert  von  Lon.  In  the  records 
of  Cloister  Willebadessen  we  read  that,  in  1505,  the  nuns  commis- 
sioned him  to  paint  for  them  a  High  Altar  for  which  he  was  to  re- 
ceive forty  gold  guldens.  One  wing  of  this  altar  is  now  in  Munster 
Gallery;  it  contains  the  Resurrection,  Ascension,  Descent  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  Saints.  Gert  von  Lon's  chief  work  is  the  altar 
in  the  Wiesenkirche  in  Soest  which  was  long  attributed  to  Alde- 
grever.  The  shrine  contains  wood  carvings;  on  the  wings  are  the 
Holy  Night,  Adoration  of  the  Kings,  St.  Anthony  and  St.  Agatha; 
on  the  base  are  half-length  figures  of  the  apostles.  The  scenes  are 
laid  in  Renaissance  rooms;  the  people,  although  so  sharply  charac- 
terised that  they  might  have  been  done  from  life,  are,  in  the  main, 


84  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

unattractive;  their  features  are  unbeautiful,  their  bodies  long  and 
thin  and  their  poses  stiff  and  affected. 

The  distinguishing  characteristics  of  Westphalian  art — sturdi- 
ness  of  type,  a  leaning  toward  realism,  fondness  for  gay  colour- 
ing, for  gorgeous  robes  and  for  ornamentation  with  gold  thickly 
and  pastily  applied — persisted  even  into  the  XVI  century. 
In  its  opening  years  Dortmund  was  the  centre  of  artistic  ac- 
tivity. There  two  brothers,  Heinrich  and  Victor  Diinwegge, 
painted,  in  1521,  the  High  Altar  for  the  Dominican  Church.  On  the 
central  section  is  the  Crucifixion,  on  the  inner  sides  of  the  wings  the 
Holy  Family  and  Adoration  of  the  Kings;  on  the  outer  sides  eight 
saints  of  the  Dominican  order,  who  stand  in  front  of  a  tapestry,  be- 
hind which,  through  a  late  Gothic  arcade,  we  are  given  a  glimpse  of  a 
landscape.  The  composition  is  crowded  and  not  clealy  grouped,  the 
women  are  in  appearance  large  and  dignified,  but  unmistakably  shal- 
low and  insincere;  the  men  are  strong  almost  to  roughness;  the  gar- 
ments are  gaily  patterned.  Almost  all  pictures  by  these  prolific  paint- 
ers give  an  impression  of  overcrowding,  which  is  heightened  by  the  use 
of  many  light  colours  which  are  not  brought  into  harmony. 

A  master  whose  style  is  so  similar  to  that  of  the  brothers  Diin- 
wegge that  some  authorities  believe  him  to  be  identical  with  one  of 
them,  is  the  Master  of  Cappenberg,  of  whom  it  is  known  that  he 
worked  in  the  years  between  1500  and  1525  and  who  received  his 
name  from  the  altar,  with  the  Crucifixion  as  its  chief  subject,  which 
is  in  the  church  at  Cappenberg. 

To  Soest,  however,  that  earliest  centre  of  the  art  life  of  West- 
phalia, belonged  the  best  known  Westphalian  painter  of  the  XVI 
century,  Heinrich  Aldegrever.  He  was  born  in  Paderborn,  in  1502, 
but  moved  in  his  youth  to  Soest  where  he  had  become  a  famous 
artist  before  1530.     He  died  about  1560. 

Aldegrever  was  not  only  a  painter  but  practised  the  art  of  the 
goldsmith  and  of  the  engraver  as  well,  developing  as  an  engraver 
under  the  very  marked  influence  of  Diirer.  As  a  painter  his  fame 
rests  on  his  portraits,  which  are  well-modelled,  clean  and  definite 
in  drawing,  while  his  types  are  patrician,  marked  by  simplicity 
and  dignity  of  bearing. 

In  Miinster  the  family  Tom  Ring  was  prominent  in  art  in  the 


Photograph  by  Franz  Hanfstaen'jl 


HEIXRICH  ALDEGREVER 

Portrait  of  a  Youxg  Man 

lichtenstein  gallert,  vienna 


WESTPHALIAN  PAINTERS  85 

XVI  century.  At  its  head  was  Ludger  torn  Ring  the  Elder  (1497 
-1547)  who  was  widely  known  as  a  painter  and  architect.  An  altar 
painted  by  him  in  1538  in  Miinster  Cathedral  is  not  particularly 
interesting  or  important.  His  chief  talent  was  as  a  portrait  apinter. 
His  portraits  are  rather  stiff  and  set,  but  dignified,  definite  in  model- 
hng  and  clear  in  colour.  He  gave  the  external  appearance  without 
any  revelation  of  the  nature,  character  or  attainments  of  his  sub- 
jects; a  procedure  which  created  a  singular  resemblance  to  one 
another  in  all  the  people  he  painted,  as  is  the  case  also  in  many  of 
the  representations  by  such  artists  as  Sir  Peter  Lely,  Kneller  and 
others  who  at  various  times  have  adopted  this  same  standard  in 
portraiture. 

Ludger  tom  Ring  had  two  sons  who  also  were  painters.  The 
elder,  Hermann,  was  born  in  Miinster  in  1521,  studied  with  his 
father,  then  came  under  the  influence  of  the  ItaHanised  School  of 
the  Netherlands,  especially  of  Heemskerk.  In  1568  he  became 
Master  of  the  Guild  in  MUnster;  he  died  in  1597.  The  younger 
son,  Ludger,  who  was  bom  in  1522,  spent  most  of  his  active  life  in 
Brunswick,  where  he  died  in  1583  or  1584.  The  flesh  tones  in  his 
portraits  are  very  light  and  all  his  people  are  invested  with  a  rather 
wooden  appearance  of  dignity. 

Nicholas,  son  of  Hermann  tom  Ring,  born  1564  in  Miinster, 
continued  the  family  name  and  fame  into  the  XVII  century,  as  he 
was  active  as  late  as  1613.  His  work  cannot  be  said  to  be  in  any 
sense  German,  but  is  in  everything  imitation  Italian. 


CHAPTER  XI 

SAXONY 

LUCAS  CRANACH 

THE  greatest  painter  in  Saxony,  Lucas  Cranach,  was  not  a  Saxon 
by  birth  but  was  born  in  1472,  at  Cronach  in  Franconia,  whence 
he  received  his  name.  Concerning  his  family  name  there 
is  still,  however,  much  difference  of  opinion,  some  historians  insist- 
ing that  it  was  Miiller,  others  holding  out  for  Sunder.  Of  his  life  be- 
fore 1504  we  know  nothing,  but  he  must  have  gained  a  wide  reputation, 
for  in  that  year  he  was  appointed  Court  Painter  to  the  Saxon  Elector 
Frederick  the  Wise  and  went  to  live  in  Wittenberg.  Four  years 
later  a  coat-of-arms — the  winged  serpent  which  in  his  pictures  takes 
the  place  of  the  usual  monogram  signature — was  conferred  upon 
him,  in  acknowledgment,  not  only  of  the  greatness  of  his  art,  but 
of  his  services  to  the  Electoral  House.  The  next  year,  1509,  he  was 
sent  as  special  ambassador  to  the  Netherlands  to  represent  Saxony 
at  the  festivities  in  honour  of  Charles  of  Spain,  the  grandson  of  the 
Emperor  MaximiHan.  In  1513  he  bought  a  handsome  house  in 
Wittenberg,  having,  some  time  previously,  married  Barbara  Breng- 
bier,  daughter  of  a  patrician  of  Gotha.  He  acquired  an  apothecary 
shop  and  later  a  book  store.  In  1519  he  was  elected  City  Treasurer, 
in  1537  and  again  in  1540,  Burgomaster. 

From  the  beginning  he  was  a  warm  friend  of  Luther's  and  did 
everything  in  his  power  to  promote  his  cause.  He  was  one  of  the 
witnesses  at  Luther's  marriage,  caricatured  his  enemies  in  a  series 
of  woodcuts,  painted  pictures  and  made  drawings  for  woodcuts  which 
would  illustrate  and  illuminate  Luther's  teachings.  Luther,  in 
turn,  was  god-father  to  one  of  his  children  and  his  comforter  when 
his  gifted  son,  Johann  Lucas,  died  suddenly,  in  1537,  at  Bologna, 
whither  he  had  gone  to  pursue  his  art  studies. 

Loyal  as  he  was  to  Luther,  he  was  just  as  faithful  to  the  princely 
house  he  served.  When  in  1547  Elector  Johann  Friedrich  suffered 
defeat  and  faced  imprisonment,  Cranach  made  intercession  for  him 

86 


LUCAS  CRANACH  87 

with  Charles  V  and  when  this  failed  of  effect,  followed  the  Elector 
to  prison  in  Augsburg  and  in  Innsbruck,  remaining  with  him  until 
he  was  set  at  hberty  in  1552.  Then,  together  still,  they  went  to 
Weimar,  where  Cranach  died  in  1553  at  the  age  of  eighty-one.  He 
left  two  daughters  and  a  son,  Lucas  Cranach  the  younger.  His 
wife  had  died  twelve  years  before. 

Dr.  Christopher  Scheurl,  the  famous  humanist,  "the  Oracle 
of  the  Republic,"  in  his  festival  speech  delivered  in  1508  in  the 
Stiftskirche  which  Frederick  the  Wise  had  founded  in  Wittenberg, 
referred  to  Cranach  as  one  who  worked  "  more  rapidly  than  any  other 
painter  and  who  was  never  idle,  not  so  much  as  a  single  hour,  but 
always  had  a  brush  in  his  hand."  And  truly  this  account  of  his 
facility  and  industry  must  have  been  literally  true,  for  Cranach 
has  left  to  us  an  enormous  body  of  work,  comprising  pictures  with 
religious  and  allegorical  subjects,  portraits  and  drawings  for  wood- 
cuts. It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  in  his  later  years  he 
had  gathered  a  school  about  him,  and  also  that  he  was  greatly  occu- 
pied with  business,  religion  and  pohtics — matters  which  must  have 
consumed  much  time.  It  is  therefore  highly  probable  that  the  busy 
artist  left  many  of  the  commissions  to  be  executed,  in  the  main,  by 
his  students  and  helpers;  so  that  many  of  the  works  attributed  to 
the  master  himself,  are  but  school  pictures  in  his  manner.  Gradu- 
ally these  are  being  sifted  out  and  a  more  just  appreciation  of  the 
master  is  becoming  possible. 

In  his  art  Cranach  belongs  wholly  to  Saxony  and  the  School 
of  Cologne,  and  not  in  any  degree  to  the  intensely  dramatic  school 
of  his  native  Franconia.  While  in  his  landscapes,  trees  and  hght- 
ing,  the  influence  of  Griinewald  and  Altdorfer  is  often  directly  evi- 
dent, in  his  types  and  atmosphere  he  is  closely  akin  to  the  earliest 
Cologne  masters.  His  women,  with  the  high  forehead,  small  mouth, 
short  chin  and  the  softly  rounded  contour  of  the  face  are  not  dis- 
similar in  type  to  theirs,  and,  though  more  worldly,  as  befits  the 
XVI  century,  they  possess  the  same  unpractical,  dreamy  natures. 
In  no  other  types  in  art  except  in  the  School  of  Cologne  in  the  XV 
century  is  there  such  utter  lack  of  self -consciousness  as  in  Cranach' s 
women,  whether  Christian  saints  or  pagan  goddesses,  heroines  of 
Old  Testament  history  or  of  classical  mythology.     He  presents  them 


88  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

often  in  a  guise  which  conception  and  treatment  might  easily  make 
anatomical  or  vulgar  or  even  lewd;  but  they  are  so  wholly  unconscious 
of  themselves  that  they  simply  provoke  the  amused,  indulgent, 
half-tender  smile  which  would  be  called  up  by  the  absurd  posturings 
or  antics  of  a  winsome  child.  Sometimes,  in  his  earlier  religious 
works,  this  self -forgetfuln  ess  attains  the  dignity  of  devotional  ab- 
sorption, as  in  the  "Madonna  and  Child"  in  Munich  Pinakothek; 
in  his  latest  works  (doubtless  largely  school  pictures)  it  occasionally 
amounts  to  absurdity,  in  such  scenes  as  Judith  nonchalantly  holding 
the  severed  head  of  Holofernes,  or  Lucretia  vacantly  or  lackadaisi- 
cally stabbing  herself. 

As  has  been  said  above,  nothing  is  definitely  known  of  the  life 
and  work  of  Lucas  Cranach  before  he  went  to  Wittenberg  in  1504. 
Scheibler  assigns  to  him  as  early  works  an  interesting  series  of 
pictures  in  the  castle  of  Aschaffenburg  done  in  a  manner  so  similar 
to  MatthM-us  Griinewald's  that,  in  lieu  of  more  authoritative  attribu- 
tion, they  have  been  hitherto  attributed  vaguely  to  "Pseudo-Grtine- 
wald."*  There  is,  however,  no  conclusive  proof  of  Cranach's  author- 
ship of  the  works  in  Aschaffenburg. 

Cranach's  earliest  signed  picture  is  the  one  in  Berlin  Gallery, 
dated  1504,  which  represents  the  Rest  on  the  Flight  into  Egypt. 
The  Virgin  is  seated  beside  a  rocky  hill,  under  the  shade  of  a  moss- 
hung,  evergreen  tree  such  as  we  meet  with  in  the  landscapes  of 
Griinewald  or  Altdorfer.  A  varied  landscape  opens  up  in  the  back- 
ground. Behind  the  Virgin  stands  Joseph,  hat  and  staff  in  hand, 
looking  out  directly  at  the  spectator  with  keen  glance.  Among  the 
flowers  that  bloom  all  about  them  are  small  and  busy  angels.  One 
gives  the  Christ  Child  fruits  and  blossoms,  one  plays  with  a  bird 
he  holds  by  the  wings,  two  make  soft  music  on  their  flutes,  one  sleeps 
beside  a  tiny  waterfall  at  which  another  fills  a  jar,  doubtless  in  pre- 
paration for  the  journey.  The  scene  is  very  much  alive,  the  atmos- 
phere inviting  and  full  of  tender  charm,  the  colour  glowing. 

For  several  years  after  this  date,  woodcuts  are  the  artist's  only 
traceable  works;  perhaps  the  Aschaffenburg  pictures  occupied  him 
during  this  period.  The  woodcuts  present  St.  George,  Venus  and 
Amor,  St.  Mary  Magdalen,  the  Temptation  of  St.  Anthony,  1508, 

*  See  Pseudo-Griinewald,  page  114. 


Photograph  by  Franz  Hanfstaengl 


LUCAS  CRANACH 

Rest  on  the  Flight  into  Egypt 
kaiser  friedrich  museum,  berlin 


LUCAS  CRANACH 

The  Crucifixion,  with  Cranach  and  Luther 

stadtpfarrkirche,  weimar 


LUCAS  CRANACH  89 

the  Judgment  of  Paris,  1509,  St.  Jerome  in  a  landscape,  and  many 
other  subjects. 

With  1509  begins  again  the  record  of  his  paintings.  A  Venus 
and  Amor  bearing  this  date  is  in  the  Hermitage  Gallery,  St.  Peters- 
burg, and  is  signed  with  the  initials  L.  C.  and  the  small  winged 
serpent  from  his  ooat-of-arms,  with  which  Cranach  was  accustomed 
to  sign  his  works.  The  modeUing  is  strong  yet  dehcate,  the  colour 
rich  and  harmonious. 

From  the  years  between  1512  and  1518  date  a  number  of  Ma- 
donna pictures,  as  the  "Madonna  in  an  Arbour"  and  the  "Madonna 
under  an  Apple  Tree,"  in  the  Hermitage  Gallery,  St.  Petersburg,  and 
the  "Madonna  and  Child"  with  a  bunch  of  grapes,  with  two  angels 
holding  a  purple  drapery  as  background,  in  Munich  Pinakothek. 
One  of  the  most  beautiful  of  all  the  Madonna  pictures  is  that 
in  St.  James'  Church  in  Innsbruck  painted  about  1517,  in  which  the 
Virgin  is  altogether  lovely,  the  Child  full  of  life  and  very  lovable, 
the  colouring  glowing  yet  soft  and  harmonious.  Next  in  beauty 
rank,  perhaps,  the  two  Madonna  pictures  in  the  Darmstadt  and 
Carlsruhe  Galleries.  In  Weimar,  the  smiling  Madonna,  painted  in 
1518,  is  seated  in  a  landscape  of  rare  beauty.  Of  less  charm  is  the 
Virgin  and  Child  in  front  of  a  green  hanging,  in  the  Stadel  Art  In- 
stitute in  Frankfort. 

From  1518  dates  the  curious  picture  in  Leipsic  Gallery,  repre- 
senting a  death-bed  scene  and  painted  as  an  Epitaph  of  the  physician 
Valentine  Schmidburg,  who  died  in  1490.  The  dying  man,  naked, 
is  propped  up  in  bed;  a  priest  holds  crucifix  and  candle  before  his 
eyes,  while  good  and  evil  spirits  struggle  for  his  soul.  Beside  the 
bed  are  the  man's  wife,  kneeling  in  prayer,  his  physician  holding 
a  flask,  a  notary  writing  his  last  will  and  testament,  and  an  executor 
who  is  examining  his  coffers  and  strong-boxes  in  order  to  ascertain 
the  extent  of  the  worldly  possessions  he  is  leaving  behind.  Above 
the  good  and  bad  angels  who  hover  over  the  bed,  passes  the  soul 
which  is  being  carried  aloft  to  the  Trinity;  above  that  again  are  the 
Virgin  and  Child  and  a  small  church  before  which  kneels  a  family 
of  five;  around  this  section  are  written  the  words  of  the  epitaph. 

In  1515  Cranach  was  invited  to  join  the  company  of  famous 
artists   who   were  illustrating  Emperor  Maximihan's  Prayerbook. 


90  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

Eight  pages  In  the  section  now  in  Munich  were  decorated  by  him  with 
drawings  which  might  almost  be  said  to  be  animal  pictures,  from  the 
extent  to  which  animals  predominate  in  the  compositions.  Cranach, 
indeed,  possessed  great  fame  as  a  painter  of  animals.  In  that  lauda- 
tory speech  he  delivered  in  1508,  Dr.  Scheurl  had  spoken  of  his 
being  able  to  paint  stags  "that  are  so  natural  that  strange  hounds 
bark  when  they  see  them."  In  the  Emperor's  Prayerbook  he  drew, 
in  reddish-brown  ink,  stags,  rabbits,  monkeys  and  herons,  without 
any  religious  significance,  save  on  one  page  where  the  Church's 
chariot  is  drawn  by  the  beasts  which  are  the  symbols  of  the  four 
evangelists. 

As  has  been  already  noted,  Cranach 's  pictures  fail  to  reveal  any 
development  of  his  art  in  his  later  years.  Indeed  after  1520  his 
mannerisms  became  so  pronounced  that  the  numerous  pictures  painted 
between  1525  and  1550  all  reveal  the  same  characteristics  and  show 
such  a  marked  similarity  that  any  detailed  consideration  would  be 
wearisome  and  fruitless.  Possibly  much  of  the  work  on  these  pic- 
tures was  done  by  pupils,  while,  in  the  case  of  the  master  himself, 
doubtless  that  remarkable  facility  of  which  Scheurl  spoke  in  1508 
had  increased  to  such  a  degree  that  in  these  busy  years  he  simply 
turned  out  "typical"  pictures  without  any  particular  expenditure  of 
either  thought  or  time. 

To  the  beginning  of  this  period,  1525,  belongs  the  "St.  Mary 
Magdalen"  in  Cologne  Museum,  with  stags  and  other  animals  intro- 
duced in  the  landscape.  A  half-dozen  pictures  of  Adam  and  Eve 
painted  between  1525  and  1533  also  gave  the  artist  opportunity  to 
exercise  his  gift  for  painting  animals,  as  he  could  freely  introduce  any 
number  of  them  in  the  Garden  of  Eden. 

Of  Biblical  figures  the  favorites,  besides  Adam  and  Eve,  were 
Judith,  who  is  conceived  as  a  mild  young  woman  holding  the  head 
of  Holofernes  as  she  might  a  fan,  Samson  and  Delilah  and  Salome. 
More  dignified  and  serious  is  the  Adulteress  before  Christ  in  the 
picture  in  Munich  Pinakothek,  who,  in  the  handsome  dress  of  the 
period,  stands  before  the  Christ,  incapable,  it  is  true,  of  deep  peni- 
tence, yet  soberly  thoughtful.  The  Christ  type  is  beautiful  and  not 
without  nobility  and  dignity  in  spite  of  the  ringleted  hair,  which  im- 
parts a  slight  air  of  effeminacy.     The  Pharisees  are  characterised  to 


LUCAS  CRANACH  91 

the  point  of  caricature,  especially  the  man  in  armour  with  his  cap 
full  of  stones,  and  the  huge,  monkish-looking  man  at  the  left  who 
is  adjusting  his  eyeglasses  with  a  supercilious  air  and  who  is  so 
large  that  he  disturbs  the  proportions  of  the  pictm-e.  Another 
Biblical  subject  to  which  Cranach  was  partial  was  "Christ  blessing 
Little  Children."  A  beautiful  picture  with  this  subject  is  in  Naum- 
burg,  another  in  the  Paulinerkirche,  Leipsic,  a  third  in  St.  Anna's 
Church,  Augsburg. 

But  pleasant  and  beautiful  subjects  did  not  by  any  means  mon- 
opolise his  attention.  Christ  as  the  Man  of  Sorrows  he  pictured 
many  times,  the  most  dignified  and  sincere  representation  being 
that  in  the  Cathedral  in  Meissen,  which  was  painted  in  1534.  A 
series  of  three  scenes  from  the  Passion  is  in  Berlin  Gallery;  six  others 
are  in  the  Old  Palace.  Of  special  interest  among  these  Passion 
scenes  are  those  which  were  directly  inspired  by  Cranach 's  contact 
with  Martin  Luther  and  his  faith  in  the  new  Evangel  which  set 
forth  the  victory  of  the  testament  of  Christ's  blood  over  the  old 
law.  In  Weimar  Museum  is  a  picture  which  illustrates  the  teach- 
ings of  the  great  reformer.  On  the  left,  as  symbolic  of  the  old 
dispensation,  are  Death  and  the  Devil  chasing  Adam  into  hell, 
while  Moses  and  the  prophets  look  on  helplessly;  on  the  right 
are  Christ  on  the  Cross,  and  John  the  Baptist  explaining  to 
Adam  the  means  of  redemption,  in  which  he  becomes  a  sharer 
through  the  blood  which  gushes  visibly  from  Christ's  bleeding  heart 
upon  his  head.  Another  treatment  of  this  theme  which  presents 
it  pointedly  as  an  illustration  of  Luther's  teachings,  is  in  the  Stadt- 
pfarrkirche  in  Weimar.  In  the  centre  is  Christ  on  the  Cross; 
in  the  background,  the  tents  of  the  Israelites  and  the  symbolic 
brazen  serpent,  in  the  middle  distance  Moses  with  the  tables  of  the 
law  and  Death  and  the  Devil  driving  mankind  into  hell.  At  the 
left  of  the  Cross,  Christ  descends  into  hell  to  bind  the  old  dragon 
and  bring  mankind  again  from  the  dead;  at  the  right  stand  John  the 
Baptist,  the  artist  Cranach  himself,  upon  whose  head  blood  gushes 
from  the  pierced  side  of  Christ,  and  Martin  Luther  holding  his  open 
Bible  and  pointing  to  the  words  "The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  cleanseth 
us  from  all  sin."  The  portrait  of  the  artist  at  the  foot  of  the  cross  is 
life-like,  and  that  of  Luther  the  best  we  have  of  him  from  Cranach 's 


92  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

hand.  In  the  Stadtkirche  in  Wittenberg  is  yet  another  "Luther" 
altar  (largely  pupils'  work,  however),  which  represents  in  the  central 
picture  the  Last  Supper;  on  the  wings.  Confession,  with  Bugenhagen 
as  Father  Confessor,  and  Baptism  with  Melanchthon  as  priest;  on 
the  predella,  Luther  preaching,  with,  as  his  theme,  the  Crucifixion. 

But  the  subjects  of  Cranach's  pictures  are  not  all  religious; 
his  secular  pictures  are  even  more  numerous.  Favoured  among  pro- 
fane themes  are  the  stories  of  classical  mythology,  which  are,  how- 
ever, by  no  means  interpreted  in  the  classic  spirit  or  presented  in 
the  classic  manner,  but  are,  rather,  representations  of  nude  Arcadian 
heroes  and  heroines  who,  in  their  childish  naivete,  are  not  with- 
out winsomeness,  though  some  of  them  are  but  slightly  removed  from 
being  travesties  of  the  dignified  scenes  to  which  we  are  accustomed 
in  classical  art.  The  favourite  subject,  naturally,  is  Venus,  who  is 
presented  again  and  again.  The  Judgment  of  Paris  also  appeals  to 
the  artist's  imagination.  Paris,  a  rather  unimpressive  looking,  short, 
young  man,  very  handsomely  dressed,  or  in  full  armour,  gazes  in 
stupefaction  at  the  beauty  of  the  three  goddesses,  who  are  indeed 
childishly  winning  in  their  gauze  veils  and  gold  chains.  Diana, 
alone  or  with  Apollo,  is  a  subject  which  encourages  the  introduction 
of  beautiful  landscapes  with  animals.  A  very  lovely  landscape  is 
the  setting  for  a  charming  picture  of  a  faun  family,  in  Donau- 
eschingen  Gallery. 

Of  all  the  allegorical  pictures  the  best  known  is  the  "Fountain 
of  Youth,"  in  Berlin  Gallery,  which  has  unfortunately  undergone  a 
thorough  restoration.  In  the  middle  of  a  great  park  is  the  fountain 
over  which  Venus  is  presiding  deity.  To  it  have  come  all  sorts  of 
women,  crippled,  homely  and  old,  on  foot  or  in  the  conveyances  which 
are  left  standing  close  at  hand.  Very  swiftly  they  are  disrobing  and 
plunging  into  the  wonder-working  water,  to  climb  out  on  the  other 
side  young,  fresh  and  beautiful,  to  robe  in  the  near-by  tents  and 
then  give  themselves  up  to  the  pleasures  of  youth,  dancing,  feast- 
ing and  loving.  It  is  a  fairy  tale  told  with  much  of  the  charm 
of  the  Wonder- World  and  yet  not  without  a  strongly  humorous 
element. 

Akin  to  the  master's  mythological  and  allegorical  pictures  are 
his  hunting  scenes,  as  the  "Stag  Hunt,"  of  1529,  in  the  Burg  at  Prague, 


Photograph  by  F.  Bruckmann  A-G,  Munich 

LUCAS  CRAxNACH 

The  Judgment  of  Paris 

grand  ducal  gallery,  carl8ruhe 


cj  o  S 


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P5 
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LUCAS  CRANACH  93 

two  Hunting  Scenes  from  1544  in  the  Prado,  Madrid,  and  others. 
The  Hunt  with  Emperor  Charles  V  as  guest,  in  Vienna  Gallery,  is 
largely  a  school  picture. 

Exceedingly  numerous,  too,  are  the  portraits  painted  by  Cran- 
ach.  As  a  usual  thing,  he  gives  his  subjects  simply  and  directly, 
without  profound  insight,  yet  with  sincerity  and  Hfelikeness  and 
with  attractive  colouring.  As  might  be  expected,  many  of  his  portraits 
present  princes  to  whom  he  was  court  painter.  Especially  numerous 
are  those  of  Frederick  the  Wise  with  the  broad,  short  head  on  the 
thick,  short  neck,  the  stubby  beard,  low  forehead  and  small  eyes. 
Of  Johann  I  a  good  portrait  is  in  Weimar  Museum,  as  also  one  of 
Johann  Friederich  as  bridegroom,  painted  in  1526,  with  a  companion 
picture  of  his  betrothed,  Sybil  of  Cleves.  There  are  also  from  his 
hand  several  portraits  of  Cardinal  Albrecht  of  Brandenburg,  in  one 
of  which,  in  Darmstadt  Gallery,  painted  in  1525,  the  cardinal  is  rep- 
resented as  St.  Jerome  in  his  study  surroimded  by  books  and  other 
accessories;  in  another,  in  Berlin  Gallery,  painted  two  years  later, 
as  St.  Jerome  in  a  forest  landscape  surrounded  by  wild  animals  and 
writing  on  a  board  supported  by  the  trunk  of  a  tree. 

Another  interesting  group  of  portraits  is  that  one  which  has 
as  its  centre  the  Apostle  of  the  Reformation.  Cranach  painted 
in  1527  the  portraits  of  Luther's  parents  which  are  in  the  Wart- 
burg;  and  at  various  times,  several  of  his  wife  Katherine  Bora,  and 
many  of  Luther  himself. 

A  portrait  of  the  artist  by  himself,  dated  1550,  is  in  the  Uffizi 
Gallery,  Florence. 

Cranach  has  been  called  the  Hans  Sachs  of  painting  and  in  the 
many  years  of  productive  activity  and  the  enormous  quantity  of 
work  turned  out,  in  a  certain  lack  of  profundity,  a  certain  super- 
ficiality of  characterisation  and  in  the  hasty,  "mannered"  execution 
of  his  work,  he  does  resemble  the  great  Mastersinger.  The  painter 
possesses,  however,  a  much  higher  degree  of  sesthetic  culture,  greater 
depth  and  finer  poetic  sense. 


CHAPTER  XII 

SAXONY 

MINOR  PAINTERS 

Hans  Raphon — Hans  Krell — Hans  Brosamer — ^Lucas  Cranach  the  Younger — 
Wolfgang  Krodel — Peter  Roddelstadt  Gothland — Heinrich  Konigsweiser — 
Matthias  Krodel 

THE  most  original  of  the  minor  artists  in  Saxony  was  Johannes 
Rap-Hon,  called  Hans  Raphon,  of  Einbeck,  about  whose 
works  much  controversy  is  still  being  waged.  In  the  Pro- 
vincial Museum  in  Hanover  are  two  small,  authentic  altars  from 
his  hand  which  came  there  from  the  cloisters  of  St.  Alexander  and 
St.  Mary  the  Virgin  in  Einbeck.  Each  is  in  the  form  of  a  triptych 
with  coloured  wood-carvings  of  the  Virgin  in  the  shrine  and  paintings 
of  saints  on  the  wings.  The  figures  are  exceptionally  sturdy  and  ro- 
bust, the  faces  round  and  full,  the  flesh  tones  reddish  with  dark  shad- 
ows. The  saints  are  not  invested  with  distinct  personalities,  though 
the  artist  evidently  sought  to  convey  lifelikeness  by  his  care  in  re- 
cording such  details  as  the  many  wrinkles  on  the  faces  and  hands  of 
the  older  people.    The  finish  of  the  pictures  is  hard  and  shiny. 

To  this  master  was  formerly  attributed  an  altar-piece  in  Bruns- 
wick Gallery  representing  the  Mocking  of  Christ,  Ecce  Homo,  the 
Virgin  standing  on  the  Half  Moon,  and  three  clerical  donors,  with, 
on  the  outside  of  the  wings,  a  most  curious  picture  of  the  Annuncia- 
tion or  Immaculate  Conception.  It  is  doubtful  if  this  altar-piece 
is  by  the  painter  of  the  Hanover  pictures,  though  certainly  from  the 
same  hand  as  the  altar  representing  the  Annunciation,  Baptism, 
Adoration,  and  Revelation  to  St.  John,  which  is  attributed  to  Hans 
Raphon,  in  Hildesheim  Gallery. 

In  the  Brunswick  altar  the  picture  which  is  most  interesting — 
though  iconographically  rather  than  artistically — is  "The  Annuncia- 
tion" which  is  here  presented  in  connection  with  the  Immaculate  Con- 
ception in  a  composition  which  is  most  rare  in  altar  pictures  though 
more  frequent  in  embroidered  altar  cloths  of  the  XV  century.    In 

94 


MINOR  PAINTERS  OF  SAXONY  95 

the  Archiepiscopal  Museum  in  Cologne  is  one  of  these  embroideries, 
which  contains  almost  the  identical  representation  with  that  on 
Hans  Raphon's  (?)  Brunswick  altar. 

In  a  garden  surrounded  in  part  by  high  walls,  in  part  by  a  plaited 
willow  fence,  the  Virgin  sits  among  the  flowers — "My  Beloved  is  a 
garden  enclosed."  All  about  her  are  symbols  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception:  Aaron's  Rod  that  budded,  Gideon's  Fleece,  a  pail  of 
golden  Manna,  the  Burning  Bush.  Within  the  garden  a  fountain 
of  living  water  is  playing;  on  an  altar  rests  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant. 
In  one  of  the  great  gates  of  the  wall  stands  Ezekiel  to  whom  had 
been  vouchsafed  the  vision  of  the  New  Jerusalem;  in  another, 
David,  the  royal  ancestor  of  the  Virgin.  From  the  left  the  Angel 
Gabriel  comes  hastening,  blowing  from  a  large  horn  the  message 
"Ave  gratia  plena''  and  driving  the  four  dogs.  Truth,  Peace,  Mercy 
and  Justice,  fleeing  before  whom  the  unicorn — symbol  of  Jesus 
Christ — rushes  into  the  lap  of  the  Virgin.  In  the  background  is  a 
wide  landscape  with  trees  and  palms  and  an  expanse  of  green  water 
on  which  a  boat  is  sailing.  Above  the  water  hangs- the  Star  of  David; 
over  it  arches  the  Rainbow  of  Promise,  and  out  of  it  rises,  in  the 
form  of  a  full,  glorious  sun,  the  Dawn  of  the  New  Dispensation. 
The  whole  is  a  curious  combination  of  illustration  of  the  Song  of 
Songs,  mystic  symbohsm  and  scholastic  allegory  and  requires  the 
introduction  of  many  fluttering  scrolls  to  make  plain  its  meaning. 

The  types  in  this,  as  in  the  other  pictures  attributed  to  this 
master,  are  tall,  strong  and  vigorous;  the  faces  are  short,  with  large 
features,  prominent  eyes,  round  chins  and  muscular  throats;  the 
flesh  tones  are  unbeautifuUy  reddish.  The  Virgin  has  a  very  high 
forehead,  her  hair  is  parted  and  hangs  in  long,  heavy  waves;  the  other 
figures  have  low,  broad  foreheads  and  their  red-blond  hair,  without 
parting,  is  laid  in  light  curls.  A  distinctive  characteristic  of  the 
painter  is  the  way  the  light  falling  on  the  hair  threads  it  with  lines  of 
brightest  gold. 

The  garments  worn  by  the  people  are  very  full,  the  preferred 
colours  red,  white  and  green;  blue,  strangely  enough,  finds  no  place 
in  the  pictures.  The  waU  and  towers  in  "The  Annunciation,"  like  the 
many  buildings  introduced  in  his  other  pictures,  are  grey,  with  tiled 
roofs  of  the  very  same  bright  red  that  appears  so  frequently  in  the 


96  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

garments.  The  people  move  with  much  vigour  but  less  grace;  the 
wide  landscapes  and  the  views  into  the  interiors  of  great  halls  reveal 
the  artist's  mastery  of  perspective.  His  pictures  are  usually  dis- 
quieting from  overcrowding  with  persons  and  things  and  from  the 
lack  of  harmonisation  of  their  bright  colours. 

A  later  independent  Saxon  master  was  Hans  Krell,  called  "The 
Princes'  Painter  of  Leipsic,"  who,  in  the  years  between  1533  and 
1573,  was  head  of  a  large  workshop,  in  the  direction  of  which  he  was 
succeeded  by  his  son,  Hans  Krell  the  Younger.  The  elder  Krell 
made  drawings  for  wood  cuts  and  painted  portraits  of  his  princes, 
as  those  of  Elector  August  of  Saxony  and  his  wife  Anna,  1551,  in 
Dresden  Gallery,  Elector  Johann  Friedrich  and  his  wife  Sybilla, 
1534,  in  Leipsic  City  Library,  and  many  others,  which  to-day  seem 
but  mediocre. 

A  contemporary  of  Lucas  Cranach's  who  imitated  him  very 
closely  was  Hans  Brosamer,  who  lived  from  1480  to  1550.  His 
"Mother  and  Child,"  in  Brunswick  Gallery,  is  much  like  a  Cranach 
picture  in  types  and  in  dress,  even  to  such  accessories  as  the  heavy 
chain  with  large  links  worn  by  the  beautiful  mother.  The  child, 
who  is  very  large  and  stout  and  strong,  wears  a  gauze  dress  and  is 
most  amazingly  decked  out  with  a  chain  of  corals  to  which  jewelled 
pendants  are  attached  and  a  golden  crown  curiously  plaited  and 
thickly  set  with  pearls.  Several  portraits  by  this  artist  are  in  various 
galleries,  as  that  of  Wolfgang  Eisen,  in  Carlsruhe,  painted  in  1523, 
and  that  one  dated  1538,  in  Hamburg  Gallery,  of  a  young  man 
of  twenty-one  years,  who  is  characterised  by  the  annotation  made 
on  the  picture  ^^ Forma  bonum  fragile.'*  Hans  Brosamer  was  also 
active  as  an  engraver,  and  maker  of  woodcuts. 

The  other  Saxon  painters  of  reputation  in  the  XVI  century  were, 
apparently  without  exception,  pupils  of  Lucas  Cranach.  His  own  most 
gifted  son,  Johannes  Lucas,  who  died  at  Bologna  in  1537,  left,  so  far 
as  is  known,  no  works  from  which  we  might  justify  the  great  esteem 
in  which  he  seems  to  have  been  held  as  an  artist.  Flechsig  has 
attributed  to  him — it  seems  to  me  with  reason  and  justice — the  so- 
called  Pseudo-GrUnewalds  in  Aschaffenburg  Castle. 

The  second  son,  Lucas  Cranach  the  Younger,  who  was  born 
in  Wittenberg  in  1515  and  died  in  Weimar  in  1586,  succeeded  his 


HANS  RAPHOX 

Annunciation  with  Symbols  of  the  Immaculate  Conception 

ducal  museum,  brunswhck 


Courtesy  of  the  Ehrich  Gallery,  New  York 

MASTER  OF  FRANKFORT 

Virgin  and  Child  with  St.  Anna 


MINOR  PAINTERS  OF  SAXONY  97 

father  in  tlie  favour  of  the  Elector  and  in  his  official  positions  in  the 
city.  His  chief  work  is  "The  Preaching  of  St.  John,"  painted  in  1549, 
and  now  in  Brunswick  Museum,  which  in  type  and  composition  is 
very  similar  to  his  father's  works  but  is  softer  in  colouring,  with 
pinker  flesh  tones. 

The  younger  Lucas  was  also  a  passionate  adherent  of  Luther 
and  painted  several  pictures  in  which  the  great  reformer  is  glorified 
or  his  teachings  illustrated.  So  in  "The  Vineyard  of  the  Lord," 
painted  in  1569  for  the  Stadtkirche  in  Wittenberg,  the  monks  and 
priests  are  pictured  destroying  the  precious  grain,  while  Luther  and 
his  followers  are  planting  the  good  seed. 

Religious  pictures  did  not  claim  his  interest  wholly,  but,  like  his 
father,  he  also  painted  allegorical  and  mythological  scenes.  The 
"Sleeping  Hercules  in  the  Forest  teased  by  the  Pygmies,"  and  the 
"Awakened  Hercules  chasing  off  the  Pygmies,"  in  Berlin  Gallery, 
are  veritable  fairy  tales,  though  the  types  are  rather  more  ordinary 
and  less  attractive  than  those  of  the  elder  Lucas. 

His  best  work,  however,  was  done  as  a  portrait  painter.  Among 
his  portraits  of  his  princely  patrons  the  most  interesting  are  those, 
in  Dresden  Gallery,  presenting  the  Elector  Maurice  of  Saxony  and 
his  wife  Agnes,  Elector  Maurice  alone,  and  Elector  August.  Of 
Luther  he  painted  several  fine  portraits,  among  them  those  in  Sch- 
werin  Museum,  painted  in  1546,  and  the  half-length  portrait  in 
Weimar  Museum.  The  picture  of  Melanchthon  on  his  death-bed, 
in  Dresden  Gallery,  was  formerly  attributed  to  him,  but  is  now  con- 
sidered the  work  of  a  helper  or  pupil  in  his  school.  Especially  fine 
and  beautiful  in  colour  is  the  portrait  of  Leonhard  Badehorn,  the 
lawyer  and  Rector  of  Leipsic  University,  in  Berhn  Gallery.  From 
his  hand  are  also  the  ten  portraits  of  the  famous  Reformation  leaders, 
done  in  water  colours  on  a  blue  ground  in  the  so-called  "Stammbuch" 
in  the  Royal  Library,  Berlin,  among  them  Luther,  Melanchthon, 
Spalatin,  Justin  Jonas,  Bugenhagen  and  Elector  Johann  Friedrich. 

A  less  important  pupil  of  the  elder  Cranach  was  Wolfgang 
Krodel,  from  whose  hand  are  two  signed  pictures  in  the  Imperial 
Gallery,  Vienna,  "David  and  Bathsheba"  and  "Lot  with  his  Daugh- 
ters," both  from  the  year  1528.     From  the  same  year  dates  a  *Xast 


98  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

Judgment,"  in  Dresden  Gallery;  from  1555,  a  "Judith,"  in  Darmstadt. 
The  types  are  coarser  than  Cranach's,  the  colouring  paler. 

Another  pupil,  Peter  Roddelstadt,  who,  because  he  came  from 
Gothland  was  known  as  Peter  Gothland,  became  court  painter  at 
Weimar  in  the  year  of  his  master's  death  in  that  city,  1553.  In  the 
Stadtkirche  in  Jena  are  three  of  his  works:  an  altar-piece  represent- 
ing Christ  stilling  the  Storm  at  Sea  and  the  Epitaphs  of  Professor 
Stoffel  and  Erhard  Schnepsius. 

Then  followed  the  pupils  of  the  younger  Lucas,  who  per- 
petuated the  Cranach  types  and  the  Cranach  traditions  even  into  the 
XVII  century.  One  of  these,  Heinrich  Konigsweiser,  who  was  study- 
ing with  him  in  1552,  was  a  protege  of  Duke  Albrecht  of  Branden- 
burg and  was  probably  the  "H.  K."  who  painted  the  "Christ  in 
Gethsemane,"  in  Konigsberg. 

Another  pupil  was  the  portrait  painter  Matthias  Krodel  who 
was  in  the  service  of  the  Electors  of  Saxony  from  1586  to  1591. 
From  his  hand  is  a  portrait  of  an  old  man,  in  Dresden  Gallery, 
which  is  signed  M.  K.  1591  and,  in  Brunswick  Gallery,  with  the  same 
signature,  and  dated  1570,  a  portrait  of  a  man  in  a  fur  cap. 

But  it  is  quite  unnecessary  to  catalogue  all  the  pupils  of  Lucas 
Cranach  the  Elder  and  the  Younger.  Their  works  speak  for  them 
in  their  conformity  to  type  and  marked  similarity,  and  doubtless 
many  of  the  weaker  works  in  the  Cranach  manner  attributed  to 
Lucas  the  Elder  himself  are  from  the  hands  of  some  one  or  more  of 
his  many  pupils. 


PART  III 
SCHOOL  OF  SWABIA 


^   -    '         CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  MIDDLE  RHINE 

THREE  FRANKFORT  MASTERS 

Master  of  Frankfort  (Hans  Fyol?) — Master  of  the  House  Book 
(Martin  Hess?) — Hans  Grimmer 

IN  the  beginning  the  schools  of  art  which  grew  up  in  the  cities 
of  the  Middle  Rhine  gave  no  hint  that  they  were  to  differ  mate- 
rially in  their  development  and  outcome  from  the  School  of 
Cologne.  They  started  out  with  the  same  themes,  the  hves  of  Christ, 
the  Virgin  and  the  saints,  but  told  their  stories  in  a  more  matter  of 
fact  fashion  than  was  possible  to  the  devoted,  mystic,  early  masters 
in  Cologne.  After  the  middle  of  the  XV  centm-y  they,  too,  fell  for 
a  time  so  wholly  under  the  dominion  of  the  art  of  the  Nether- 
lands that  even  yet,  occasionally,  a  work  by  an  artist  of  that 
period  is  listed  uncertainly  as  "Master  from  the  Middle  Rhine 
or  the  Netherlands." 

The  earliest  works  remaining  date  from  the  first  half  of  the  XV 
century,  and  were  painted  by  artists  who  are,  for  the  most  part, 
still  nameless;  as  the  Ortenberg  Altar  of  1410  and  the  Seligen- 
stadt  Saints,  1420,  in  Darmstadt  Gallery;  the  Holy  Kinship  Altar 
and  the  Crucifixion,  1420,  in  the  Municipal  Museum,  Frankfort. 

By  the  second  half  of  the  century,  the  introduction  of  the 
landscape  background,  the  attempts  at  scientific  perspective,  the 
use  of  oils,  and  even  the  types  portrayed  reveal  unmistakably  the 
influence  of  the  art  of  the  Netherlands.  So  marked  is  this  influ- 
ence in  the  works  of  the  so-called  Master  of  Frankfort  (Meister 
von  Frankfurt)  that  some  historians  persist  in  believing  him  to 
be  not  a  German  but  a  Flemish  artist.  The  chief  works  of  this 
painter,  whose  pictures  are  to  be  seen  in  many  galleries,  are  in 
Frankfort;  hence  his  name.  They  are,  in  the  Municipal  Museum, 
an  altar  representing,  in  the  central  section  the  Holy  Family,  on 

101 


102  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

the  wings  the  Birth  and  Death  of  the  Virgin,  and  four  saints;  in 
the  Stadel  Institute,  an  altar  containing  the  Crucifixion,  two  don- 
ors and  their  patron  saints,  and,  on  the  outside,  a  corpse  lying 
upon  a  bier.  The  types  are  not  so  pleasing  as  those  in  the  pic- 
tures of  his  contemporaries  in  Cologne  who  were  also  imitating 
Dirk  Bouts,  Roger  van  der  Weyden  and  Hans  Memling;  they  are 
almost  always  plain-featured,  solemn  people,  who  go  through  life 
sodden  and  uninspired.  This  impression  is  unrelieved  by  the  col- 
ouring, which  is  dark  and  heavy  in  spite  of  the  free  use  of  gold 
brocades  and  rich,  jewelled  passementeries  in  the  garments.  In 
the  "Madonna  and  Child  with  St.  Anna,"  in  New  York,  the  people 
sitting  in  the  lovely  landscape  possess  more  buoyancy  and  respon- 
siveness than  usual  and  are  among  his  most  attractive  creations. 

Some  historians  have  identified  the  Master  of  Frankfort  with 
Conrad  Fyol,  a  member  of  a  well  known  Frankfort  family  of  artists 
whose  head,  Sebald  Fyol,  in  1442  decorated  the  new  council  chamber 
in  the  Rbmer  with  frescoes  which  have  since  perished.  His  son  Con- 
rad is  listed  as  a  painter  in  the  archives  of  1466  to  1498.  Other 
authorities  believe  that  the  works  of  the  Master  of  Frankfort  were 
done  at  a  later  date  than  this  and  are  inclined  to  identify  him  with 
Conrad's  son  Hans  Fyol,  who  enjoyed  considerable  reputation 
in  the  opening  years  of  the  XVI  century. 

A  contemporary  of  the  Master  of  Frankfort  in  the  School  of  the 
Middle  Rhine  derived  his  name,  "The  Master  of  the  House  Book'* 
(Meister  des  Hausbuches),*  from  his  many  engravings  for  the  "house 
book"  of  Wolfegg  Castle.  Flechsig  believes  him  to  be  identical  with 
Nicholas  Schriet,  who  painted  the  late  Gothic  altar  in  the  parish 
Church  in  Wimpfen.  Thode  offers  the  very  ingenious  and  plausible 
suggestion  that  he  might  be  that  Martin  Hess  who  is  mentioned  in 
Diirer's  letter  to  Jacob  Heller  of  Frankfort  in  1509.  Martin  Hess 
was  evidently  the  best  painter  in  Frankfort  at  the  time,  since  Diirer 
wished  his  patron  to  obtain  his  opinion  of  the  artistic  and  commercial 
value  of  the  great  Heller  Altar  he  had  just  sent  off  to  him  to  Frank- 
fort. What  more  natural  than  to  conclude  that  the  most  important 
works  done  at  that  period  in  Frankfort  should  be  from  the  hand  of 
her  best-known  artist!    Moreover,  in  composition  and  in  the  land- 

*  Known  also  as  the  "Master  of  the  Amsterdam  Cabinet." 


THE  MIDDLE  RHINE  103 

scapes  introduced,  the  paintings  and  engravings  by  the  Master  of 
the  House  Book  reveal  an  acquaintance  with  the  works  of  Diirer; 
probably  the  Frankfort  painter  had  studied  with  him,  or  had,  at 
least,  visited  his  workshop  in  Nuremberg,  so  that  Diirer  knew  him 
personally — as  Martin  Hess? — before  he  advised  Jacob  Heller  to 
consult  him. 

The  artist's  chief  works  are  a  series  of  nine  scenes  from  the  Life 
of  the  Virgin  in  Mayence  Gallery  and  an  altar  in  Darmstadt  repre- 
senting the  Annunciation,  Holy  Night,  Adoration  and  Presentation, 
with  saints;  works  which  reveal  that,  on  the  whole,  the  master  was, 
like  his  contemporaries,  following  the  artists  of  the  Netherlands. 
His  people  are  very  plain,  large-featured  and  unattractive;  their 
garments  are  simple,  the  colouring  rather  bright,  the  flesh  tones 
pink. 

In  engraving,  the  Master  of  the  House  Book  was  the  first  to 
use  the  needle  instead  of  the  burin  and  obtained  with  it  many  new 
and  beautiful  effects.  His  subjects  are  varied,  including  not  only 
sacred  scenes  but  trivial  happenings  in  everyday  life. 

In  the  XVI  century  Hans  Grimmer,  a  pupil  of  Griinewald, 
worked  in  Frankfort  and  Aschaffenburg.  He  painted  both  reli- 
gious pictures  and  portraits  and  won  from  Sandrart  high  enconiums 
as  "in  his  time  a  famous  painter  who  painted  many  good 
pictm-es."  Few  of  them  remain  to  us,  however,  beyond  the  por- 
traits in  the  Stadel  Institute,  Frankfort,  and  religious  pictures 
and  portraits  in  private  collections. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
THE  MIDDLE  RHINE 

MATTHAUS  GRUNEWALD 

IN  all  this  there  was  no  hint  that  to  the  School  of  the  Middle 
Rhine  would  be  accredited  a  supreme  genius  in  painting,  one  of 
the  greatest  colourists  the  world  has  ever  known,  Matthaus 
Griinewald.  Unfortunately  nothing  is  known  about  the  course  of 
his  life.  In  all  probability  he  was  born  in  Aschaffenburg,  near  Frank- 
fort, about  1468,  since  in  the  earliest  records  he  is  called  Matthes 
von  Oschenburg — Matthew  of  Aschaffenburg.  The  chronicler  Sand- 
rart  is  moved  to  express  his  regret  at  the  absence  of  further  details. 
*'It  is  a  great  pity,"  he  writes,  "that  this  man  with  his  works  has 
been  forgotten  to  such  a  degree  that  I  do  not  know  a  living  person 
who  can  furnish  me  the  smallest  writing  relating  to  him  or  any  in- 
formation by  word  of  mouth.  He  lived  for  the  most  part  in  Mayence 
a  solitary  and  melancholy  life  and  was  wretchedly  unhappy  in  his 
marriage."     He  died  in  Colmar  (?)   after  1529. 

From  whom  he  learned  the  elementary  technique  of  his  art 
we  can  have  no  idea,  and  indeed  it  is  of  no  consequence.  He  stands 
with  no  antecedent  in  art,  a  great  path-finder,  a  phenomenal  genius, 
possessed  of  conceptions  which  he  had  not  inherited  or  derived  from 
any  outside  source,  to  which  he  gave  expression  in  his  art  in  a  man- 
ner which  he  had  never  learned.  There  is  indeed  nothing  in  the 
history  of  art  with  which  Griinewald 's  visions  of  colour  and  light  can 
even  be  compared.  In  the  works  of  the  other  great  masters  of  light, 
as  Correggio,  Tintoretto,  Rembrandt,  light  is  light;  in  Griinewald 's 
pictures  it  is  colour  made  luminous. 

Yet  in  his  earliest  works  he  gives  no  sign  of  the  direction  of  his 
genius.  Greatness  is  there  unmistakably;  but  it  is  not  revealed  in 
the  colouring  so  much  as  in  the  close  observation  and  realistic,  ex- 
pressive presentation  of  the  people  he  portrays.  Of  one  of  his 
early  works,  an  altar  for  the  Dominican  Church  in  Frankfort  which 
is  now  in  the  Municipal  Museum  there,  the  outer  wings  remain, 

104 


Photograph  by  F.  Bruckmann  A-G,  Munich 

MATTHAUS  GRUNEWALD 

Holy  Night 

museum,  colmar 


Photograph  by  Franz  Hanfstaengl 


MATTHAUS  GRUNEWALD 

Saints  Erasmus  and  Maurice  in  Conversation 

ALTE   PINAKOTHEK,    MUNICH 


MATTHXUS  GRUNEWAUD  105 

showing,  in  grey  on  grey,  St.  Lawrence  with  grill  and  book  and  St. 
Cyriacus  beside  whom  stands  a  woman  in  great  agony,  about  whose 
neck  the  saint  holds  a  scarf.  The  bodies  of  the  saints  are  short, 
full  and  muscular  and  are  detached  from  the  background  almost  as 
completely  as  if  they  were  sculptured.  Their  very  full  garments 
are  so  instinct  with  life  that  it  seems  incredible  that  they  are  eter- 
nally static  figures. 

The  panel  in  Munich  Pinakothek  which  presents  St.  Maurice 
the  Moor,  and  St.  Erasmus  in  conversation,  was  a  commission  from 
Cardinal  Albrecht  of  Brandenburg  for  the  Collegiate  Church  of  St. 
Maurice  and  St.  Mary  Magdalen  in  Halle,  which  he  built  in  1518. 
The  saints  are  given  in  heroic  size;  St.  Maurice  is  in  full  armour, 
St.  Erasmus  wears  golden  robes  and  a  large,  high  crown.  Both  are 
invested  with  halos  as  insignia  of  their  sainthood.  Accompanying 
St.  Maurice  are  four  warriors;  beside  St.  Erasmus  stands  the  head 
of  the  Chapter,  in  the  delineation  of  whom  Griinewald  has  given  us  a 
masterpiece  of  portraiture.  The  rugged  old  man  in  a  red  robe,  with 
the  stubby  beard  on  his  unshaven  chin,  and  the  squinting  eyes,  is 
given  to  the  life.  He  looks  sharply,  penetratingly  out  at  us;  we  can 
almost  hear  the  words  that  fall  from  the  parted  lips. 

But  it  was  not  until  the  painting  of  the  altar-piece  for  the 
Cloister  at  Isenheim,  in  the  Vosges,  that  Matthaus  Griinewald  re- 
vealed himself  in  the  full  power  of  his  genius  and  gave  to  the  world 
a  work  uniquely  great.  The  altar-piece  is  now  in  sections  in  the 
Museum  in  Colmar  where  the  student  or  traveller  who  will  turn  aside 
for  its  contemplation-  will  receive  undoubtedly  the  most  powerful 
impression  of  tremendous  forcefulness,  imaginative  insight  and  un- 
limited power  of  expression  that  he  can  receive  from  any  one  work  of 
art.  But  it  must  be  seen  to  make  its  full  power  felt;  no  words  and 
no  reproductions  can  convey  anything  of  the  marvel  of  its  colour  and 
light,  of  the  unearthHness  of  its  phantasy,  the  intoxicating  ecstasy  of 
its  joyousness,  the  heart-gripping  power  of  its  tragedy. 

When  the  altar-piece  is  open,  it  is  distinctly  an  altar-piece  for 
the  monastery,  containing  scenes  from  the  life  of  its  patron  saint, 
St.  Anthony.  The  shrine  is  filled  with  wood  carving,  which  is,  how- 
ever, not  Griinewald 's  work.  In  the  centre  sits  St.  Anthony,  who 
is  here,  as  in  the  pictures  on  the  wings,  really  Guido  Guersi,  who  was 


/ 


106  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

abbot  of  the  cloister  from  1493  to  1515.  At  his  left  stands  St.  Jerome 
with  his  lion;  at  his  right  St.  Augustine,  at  whose  feet  kneels  a  for- 
mer abbot,  Jean  d'Orliac.  On  the  predella,  are,  in  half  length,  the 
carved  figures  of  Christ  and  the  twelve  apostles. 

All  the  other  scenes  on  the  altar  were  painted  by  Griinewald. 
On  either  side  of  the  central  carved  section,  is  a  scene  from  the  life 
of  St.  Anthony — to  the  right,  the  Temptation,  to  the  left,  the  Con- 
versation with  St.  Paul  the  Hermit.  To  the  right,  in  a  landscape 
coldly  lighted  from  a  northern  sky  with  many  hurrying  white  clouds, 
the  tall,  bare  rocks  rising  sheer  in  the  middle  distance  crowd  into  the 
immediate  foreground  a  scene  so  wild  as  to  be  almost  unimaginable. 
On  the  ground  lies  the  aged,  white-bearded  St.  Anthony,  physically 
overthrown  by  the  gruesome  devils  that  torment  him.  Surely  only 
in  mad  delirium  could  such  monsters  appear  as  that  with  the  head  of 
a  hippopotamus  on  a  winged  body,  that  with  the  body  of  a  giant 
eagle  and  human  arms,  or  those  horned,  fire-scattering  devils  with 
flaming  eyes  and  red  tongues  lolling  from  their  mouths.  Beside 
them  Diirer's  tempters  are  innocuous  and  even  Schongauer's  are 
subdued.  One  pulls  his  victim's  hair;  one  beats  him  with  a  knotty 
stick;  a  horrible,  poisonous-looking  turtle  bites  the  fingers  that 
cling  so  tightly  to  staff  and  rosary;  a  fearful-looking  devil  who  looks 
like  a  man  with  the  bubonic  plague,  has  stolen  all  his  books.  And 
still  from  out  the  shadows  of  the  hillside  the  dread  shapes  come  bear- 
ing new  instruments  of  torture.  The  wretched  man  cries  aloud;  one 
fine,  nervous  hand  is  lifted  to  protect  his  head;  but  he  does  not  struggle 
physically,  for  these  are  not  tormentors  of  the  body  but  of  the  inner 
man.  They  are  but  the  awful  moments  all  men  may  know,  moments 
of  temptation,  remorse,  soul  searching,  soul  agony.  From  them  he 
cannot  escape  or  hide;  the  devils  pull  away  the  covering  mantle  of 
the  dull  blue  and  red  which  fall  into  purple  tones  in  the  shadows, 
and  in  the  middle  distance,  imps  are  tearing  down  his  house,  of  which 
but  the  bare  rafters  still  stand;  they  will  not  leave  him  even  the  shelter 
and  safeguard  of  an  outer  appearance  of  comfort,  respectability  or 
propriety.  He  can  only  cling  to  his  staff  and  his  rosary  and  his  faith. 
And  lo !  in  the  sky  above,  in  a  great  glory  of  crimson  and  gold,  appears 
God  the  Eternal  Father  still  bearing  the  sceptre. 

This  agony  past,  St.  Anthony  has  wandered  south  and  the  scene 


MATTHAUS  GRUNEWALD  107 

on  the  opposite  wing  shows  him  with  St.  Paul  the  Hermit  in  a  warm, 
sunny  landscape.  In  the  remote  background  towers  a  phantastic 
ridge  of  high  mountain  peaks;  at  its  base,  in  full  sunshine,  lies  a 
meadow  of  brightest  green  through  which  a  httle  stream  meanders. 
In  the  middle  distance  are  hills  which  almost  cut  the  picture  in  half, 
and  which  make  of  the  foreground  a  secluded,  cool,  grotto-like  enclos- 
ure. Beside  the  hills  is  a  tall  palm  and  a  knotted  old  tree  all  festooned 
with  drooping  moss,  from  which  a  raven  flies,  bearing  in  its  beak 
bread  for  the  hermit.  A  deer  feeds  in  the  cool  shade,  unafraid  of  the 
two  aged  men  sitting  so  near  it  on  the  rocks.  A  peaceful,  sylvan  scene? 
Far  from  it.  The  picture  is  charged  with  a  tense,  nervous  quality 
which  makes  you  feel  that  this  is  no  quiet,  evening  conversation, 
but  an  occasion  of  supreme  moment.  The  phantastic  mountain 
peaks,  the  leafless  trees  with  their  arms  reaching  out  in  every  direc- 
tion, a  certain  fitful  quality  of  the  lighting,  all  reflect  the  dramatic 
force  with  which  the  old  hermit,  gesticulating  impressively,  speaks  to 
his  guest,  who  listens  with  all  his  powers  concentrated.  This  is  no 
ordinary  discussion  of  unimportant  or  secondary  matters.  The 
aged  hermit,  who  has  not  spoken  for  so  many  of  his  hundred  and 
twenty  years  of  life  that  he  has  become  dumb,  now,  in  his  last 
hours,  has  broken  silence  to  reveal  to  St.  Anthony  the  secret  of 
the  higher  life.  "Throw  off  the  scholar's  mantle  and  drop  the 
wanderer's  staff,"  he  enjoins;  "lie  down  here  on  the  green  carpet  of 
the  meadow  beside  the  spring,  warmed  by  the  dear  sun,  fed  by  the 
raven  whose  bread  to-day  feeds  us  both — become  again  a  child  of 
nature  and  let  your  vision  grow  as  clear  and  strong  and  serene  as 
this  deer's  beside  us;  then  you  will  find  peace."  "They  were  his 
last  words,"  says  the  legend;  "in  the  morning  he  had  entered  into 
peace  eternal." 
^/  We  close  the  first  pair  of  wings  and  there  breaks  upon  our  won- 

dering eyes  a  glory  as  if  the  gates  of  heaven  had  been  opened  and 
we  saw  the  angels  of  God  ascending  and  descending.  Experiences 
of  earth  or  visions  of  heaven,  these  pictures  almost  transcend  imagina- 
tion. On  the  left  wing,  there  stands  open  before  us  a  Gothic  chapel 
separated  from  the  rest  of  the  church  by  the  red  curtain  in  the 
foreground.  A  green  curtain  in  the  background,  near  the  left  window, 
would,  if  drawn,  divide  the  chapel  itself  in  front  of  the  altar.    The 


108  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

foreground  is  in  heavy  shadow  but  farther  away  from  us,  near  the 
windows,  the  chapel  is  flooded  with  Hght.  Beside  the  heavily- 
fringed  red  curtain  the  Virgin,  in  robes  of  lustrous  blue-green,  kneels, 
reading  from  a  large  Bible  which,  with  other  books,  rests  on  a  strong- 
box in  front  of  her.  We  know  just  what  words  she  is  reading,  for 
above  her  in  the  wedge-shaped  corner  beyond  the  Gothic  arch,  stands 
the  commanding  figure  of  Isaiah,  the  prophet  who  wrote  them: 
"Behold  a  virgin  shall  conceive  and  shall  bear  a  son."  Suddenly  from 
the  right — and  this  is  the  more  startling  because  at  variance  with 
the  traditional  representation — there  has  appeared  a  great  angel,  all 
in  a  swirl  of  flaming  yellow  and  red  robes,  ruddy  curls  falling  to  the 
nape  of  his  neck,  heavy  wings  spread,  the  toes  of  one  foot  but  barely 
touching  the  ground — such  an  angel,  with  such  luxuriance  of  draperies 
as  we  meet  again  in  Melozzo  da  Forli.  The  apparition  has  startled 
the  Virgin  who  has  drawn  back  with  a  movement  of  fear,  her  hands 
meeting  in  prayer.  Quickly  and  impressively,  with  the  same  effect 
of  suddenness  and  intensity  which  marks  the  whole  picture  the  angel 
has  raised  his  right  hand,  the  nervous,  curving  fingers  outstretched 
in  blessing,  and  is  delivering  his  message.  By  the  window,  in  a  soft, 
white  radiance,  appears  the  Dove. 

The  two  scenes  on  the  middle  panels  belong  together  and 
should  be  regarded  as  one;  they  are  separated  from  each  other  only 
by  some  branches  of  a  tree  and  a  curtain  drawn  part  way  across  the 
back.  To  the  right  is  pictured  the  Holy  Night.  In  a  garden  enclosed 
by  a  ruined  brick  wall,  the  Virgin,  in  soft  full  robes  of  red  and  blue, 
her  red-gold  hair  unbound  and  falling  in  shining  waves  about  her,  sits 
by  a  tiny  cot,  surrounded  by  all  the  prosaic  necessities  of  the  house- 
hold, and  holds  the  new-born  Child.  On  her  arms  she  holds  him — 
on  her  hands  rather,  away  from  her — that  she  may  look  at  him.  Her 
vhps  are  parted  in  murmuring  love  and  adoration,  on  her  face  is  a 
look  of  rapture  which  no  other  painter  has  dared  to  portray;  an 
ecstasy  that  makes  the  onlooker  catch  his  breath  in  wonder  that 
such  a  radiance  could  shine  through  mortal  flesh  and  could  be 
recorded.  Behind  the  Virgin,  in  the  garden,  blooms  a  red  rose  bush; 
just  over  the  wall  is  a  lake  on  whose  shores  rise  the  towers  of  a 
castle;  on  the  hill-tops  the  shepherds  watch  their  flocks.  Were  this 
all,  it  would  be  a  charming,  idyllic  scene  in  the  still  loveliness  of  a 


MATTHAUS  GRUNEWALD  109 

Syrian  night.  But  in  new  yearning  towards  the  earth,  the  heavens  v/ 
have  opened  and  from  the  throne  of  glory  there  is  poured  out  a  great 
cascade  of  hght  Hke  a  waterfall,  which  shines  upon  the  mists  and 
takes  on  all  the  colours  of  the  rainbow  in  all  their  infinite  gradations 
of  tone.  In  that  cascade  of  light  are  countless  angels  whose  bodiless, 
transparent  forms  reflect  the  colours  through  which  in  moving, 
they  pass — red,  yellow,  green,  blue  and  violet — shading  from  one  to 
another  with  such  subtlety  that  there  seems  to  be  no  dividing  line. 
No  other  artist  but  Tintoretto  has  succeeded  thus  in  presenting 
disembodied  spirits.  In  his  "Baptism  of  Christ"  the  "clouds  of 
witnesses"  along  the  shore  are  nothing  more  substantial  than 
light  which  has  taken  shape,  as  here,  in  Griinewald,  the  angels  in 
the  sky  are  but  luminous  colour  which  has  taken  on  form  without 
substance. 

These  are  not,  however,  the  only  angels  who  make  this  night  y 
glorious.  Almost  filling  the  wing  to  the  left,  is  a  tabernacle  all  ^ 
adorned  with  curving  vines,  restless,  vibrant  leaves  and  gesticulat- 
ing prophets.  And  in  this  tabernacle  is  assembled  the  Choir  Celestial 
fining  the  world  with  the  music  of  their  New  Song.  In  the  immedi- 
ate foreground,  outside  the  tabernacle,  kneels  a  large,  beautiful 
angel  with  shining  yellow  hair,  who  is  playing  upon  a  viol.  The 
rainbow-hued  light  from  the  opened  heavens  falls  upon  her  di- 
aphanous robes  changing  their  rose  colour  to  yellow,  the  yellow  to 
green,  the  green  to  blue,  the  blue  to  violet  and  then  to  green 
again,  softly  and  with  extreme  delicacy  of  transition.  The  gar- 
ments are  instinct  with  life,  their  folds  are  rounded  because  full 
of  air,  their  materials  so  gauzy  and  translucent  that  it  seems  only 
natural  that  they  should  reflect  all  the  colours  in  the  supernatu- 
ral light  shed  upon  them.  No  more  beautiful  painting  of  a  ma- 
terial and  of  changeable  colouring  can  be  imagined  than  the  bit 
of  this  angel's  robe  which  has  hardly  touched  the  floor,  just  inside 
the  frame.  Barely  inside  the  tabernacle  is  an  angel  in  brilUant 
red  magically  touched  with  yellow,  pink,  grey-blue  and  green; 
behind  it,  one  all  in  green  feathers  which,  where  the  fight  falls 
on  them,  turn  to  bronze  and  which  cast  such  a  strong  reflection 
on  the  angel's  face  that  it  becomes  almost  the  same  colour  as 
they.     Then  more  red  and  green  angels,  growing  ever  smaller  and 


110  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

smaller  as  they  stretch  away  to  the  sky  background  where  they 
take  on  the  colour  of  its  own  blue  touched  with  yellow  light.  The 
assembly  of  all  these  crowding,  colourful  angels  is  in  itself  a  rhapsody 
and  the  surging  of  the  colour  waves  conveys  to  one's  senses  the  pas- 
sionate music  they  are  pouring  forth^  In  the  arch  of  the  tabernacle, 
to  the  right,  kneels  a  little  figure  in  robes  of  green  and  red  and 
shimmering  pink  and  yellow,  her  golden  hair  enveloping  her  like 
sunlight.  Upon  her  head  is  a  crown,  around  it  a  huge  nimbus  of 
golden  light,  becoming  red  on  the  outer  edges;  her  clasped  hands  are 
golden-coloured  in  its  light.  Her  face  is  so  dead  white  as  to  be 
almost  indistinguishable  and  the  features  are  not  modelled  at  all;  it 
is  as  if  they  were  blotted  out  by  the  brightness  of  the  light — a  truly 
observed  natural  phenomenon  which,  recorded,  creates  the  impression 
the  painter  wishes  to  give  that  this  is  a  spiritual,  not  a  physical  pres- 
ence. It  is  St.  Catherine,  the  visionary  Bride  of  Christ  who  has  come 
to  join  this  adoring  host. 

The  fourth  panel  contains  a  not  less  original  and  remarkable  pre- 
sentation of  the  Resurrection.  From  the  narrow  open  tomb  set 
diagonally  in  the  middle  of  the  picture  rises  the  Christ,  borne  upward 
by  the  divine  power  which  is  in  him.  He  does  not  walk  or  climb 
out  of  the  tomb  in  his  human  form  and  body,  but  ascends  from  it, 
facing  us,  a  form  of  light.  Almost  his  whole  body  has  for  a  back- 
ground a  nimbus  of  rainbow-hued  light,  against  which  his  dead-white 
arms  and  hands  are  silhouetted  as  he  holds  them  up,  palm  outward 
that  all  may  see  the  wounds.  His  red  robe  floats  about  him  in 
the  breeze  caused  by  his  movement  of  ascension;  the  light  of  the 
nimbus  turns  it  to  bright  yellow  on  his  shoulders.  His  long,  blue 
mantle  streams  behind  him,  even  into  the  empty  tomb  below, 
and  is  touched  into  various  changing  colours  as  it  catches  the 
light  from  above.  His  very  robes  have  more  weight  than  the 
body  of  Christ  which  so  easily  maintains  itself  thus  floating  in 
the  air.  His  head  and  features  are  not  modelled;  they  are  barely 
indicated,  as  if  almost  obhterated  by  the  dazzling  brightness  of 
the  light.  On  the  ground  are  the  guards,  shielding  their  eyes 
from  the  blinding  glare,  stumbling,  reeling,  falling  head  foremost 
to  the  ground. 

Then  we  close  the  second  pair  of  wings  expecting  to  find,  as  is 


Photograph  by  F.  Bruckmann  A-G,  Munich 

MATTHAUS  GRUNEWALD 

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MATTHAUS  GRUNEWALD  111 

usual  on  the  outside  of  an  altar,  some  decorative  design  or  some 
symbolic  Biblical  figures,  probably  done,  like  those  on  the  master's 
Frankfort  altar,  without  colours,  in  grey  on  grey,  and  we  find  instead 
one  great  tragic  picture,  the  Crucifixion!  On  the  stationary  wings 
to  right  and  left  of  the  central  picture  are,  indeed,  two  such  figures  as 
we  might  have  expected  to  see  in  its  place — St.  Sebastian  and 
St.  Anthony  standing  on  vine-wreathed  marble  pedestals.  St. 
Sebastian,  though  pierced  wth  arrows,  is  not  a  sufferer  but  a  symbol. 
His  athletic  young  body  was  evidently  drawn  from  life;  indeed 
the  picture  is  believed  to  be  a  portrait  of  the  artist  himself.  St. 
Anthony,  with  curling  white  hair  and  beard,  is  a  virile  old  man 
of  remarkable  beauty,  robed  in  garments  of  greenish-blue  and  red, 
with  which  the  light  falling  through  the  small,  high  window 
beside  him  works  miracles. 

But  it  is  hard  to  be  so  much  as  aware  of  the  stationary  wings,  so 
utterly  is  the  spectator  held  captive  by  the  middle  picture.  On  a 
small,  rocky  plateau  in  the  foreground  the  cross  is  erected  and  on  it, 
but  little  above  the  ground,  hangs,  or  rather  towers,  the  great  form  of 
the  tortured  Christ.  No  single  detail  of  his  suffering  is  spared  us. 
The  muscles  are  twisted,  the  limbs  distorted,  the  fingers  spread 
convulsively,  the  feet  deformed  by  the  agony.  Every  pore  of  the  body 
has  sweat  blood.  The  thorn-crowned  head  has  at  last  fallen  forward 
on  the  breast,  the  eyes  are  closed,  the  swollen  lips  parted  in  death. 
And  yet,  in  spite  of  all  the  marks  of  immeasurable  anguish,  the 
figure  on  the  cross  towers  majestic.  By  a  miracle  of  perception/ 
joined  with  creative  power,  the  painter  who  pictures  thus  realis- 
tically the  sufferings  of  this  man  knew  how  to  remove  him  far 
from  insignificance,  and  to  convey,  over  and  above  them,  the  im- 
pression of  tremendous,  victorious  personality,  of  majesty.  No 
one  shall  pity,  merely;  he  shall  also  marvel  greatly.  Hence  it 
is  that  the  words  uttered  by  John  the  Baptist,  who  stands 
with  the  Immaculate  Lamb  to  the  left  of  the  cross,  do  not  seem 
incredible:  "He  must  increase."  St.  John  is  presented  symbolically 
and  according  to  tradition,  but  on  the  right  of  the  cross  is  a  realistic 
group  presented  as  never  before  in  art,  in  a  manner  we  are  wont  to 
characterise  as  "modern."  The  Virgin  robed  all  in  white,  sinks, 
wringing  her  hands,  into  the  arms  of  the  youthful  John  who,  in  his 


112  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

robes  of  bright  scarlet,  his  straight,  red  hair  all  dishevelled,  his  face 
all  marred  with  weeping,  cries  aloud  in  his  grief  as  he  bends  over  her. 
The  effect  of  the  white  robes  against  the  scarlet  is  in  itself  startUng 
and  heightens  the  emotional  pitch  of  the  scene.  At  their  feet, 
between  them  and  the  cross,  kneels  Mary  Magdalen  in  very  full 
robes  of  yellowish  red,  her  golden  hair  like  a  veil  about  her.  Her 
body  and  head  are  tilted  backward  as  she  gazes  upward  at  the 
Crucified  One,  her  hands  are  clasping  and  unclasping,  the  fingers 
twisting  in  her  despairing  grief;  her  lips  are  drawn  in  bitter  moan- 
ing. Behind  the  rocky  plateau  on  which  is  the  cross  and  on  which 
the  full  light  of  day  is  beating,  is  a  stream  beyond  which  the  light 
trembles  off  ever  fainter  and  more  faint  into  the  black  darkness 
over  the  hills  in  the  background. 

The  Entombment,  on  the  predella,  is  the  natural  continuation  of 
this  central  picture  of  the  Crucifixion  and  belongs  to  it  so  perfectly  in 
design,  that  the  central  tree  of  the  Entombment  continues  as  if  one 
with  the  tree  which  is  the  cross.  The  composition  is  Griinewald's 
own  and  the  whole  treatment  startlingly  modem.  The  long,  low, 
brick-red  sarcophagus  of  which  we  cannot  see  all,  as  it  runs  over 
the  edge  of  the  frame  at  the  left,  extends  into  the  middle  of  the 
picture.  To  the  right,  overlapping  it,  is  the  body  of  the  dead 
Christ,  still  distorted,  but  at  peace  and  made  ready  for  burial. 
Its  apparent  size  is  increased  by  the  extremely  youthful  slender- 
ness  of  John  who  is  trying  to  support  it.  Of  the  Virgin  only  the  sad 
mouth  and  the  clasped  hands  are  visible,  for  her  heavy  white  veil 
almost  hides  her  face.  Mary  Magdalen  is  behind  the  sarcophagus, 
above  which  only  her  head  and  shoulders  are  seen — as  if  she 
were  in  a  hollow  and  it  on  the  hillside.  Her  features  are  dis- 
torted with  weeping,  her  eyes  red  and  swollen,  her  hps  parted  in 
wailing  outcry.  The  landscape  in  which  this  scene  is  set  is  brown 
and  sere;  the  three  trees  cut  off  so  that  only  a  third  of  the  trunk 
is  seen  and  not  a  branch  nor  a  leaf  appears,  give  an  indescrib- 
able effect  of  loneliness  and  desolation.  A  remarkable  sense  of 
colour  values  is  revealed  in  the  juxtaposition  of  the  red  of  the 
sarcophagus,  the  red  hair  and  garments  of  the  saints  and  the 
red  of  the  sunset. 

Reviewing  again  all  the  pictures  on  the  Isenheim  Altar,  the  phan- 


MATTHXUS  GRUNEWALD  113 

tastic,  the  visionary  or  ecstatic  and  the  tragic,  we  know  not  whether 
we  are  more  amazed  at  the  master's  gigantic  and  original  conceptions, 
his  marvellous  imagination  or  his  mastery  of  the  technical  problems 
involved.  In  all  these  he  reveals  creative  genius.  His  conceptions 
were  not  delivered  to  him  by  tradition,  his  visions  were  of  his  own 
seeing.  Never  before  was  such  a  Holy  Night,  such  a  Resurrection  or 
Entombment  presented.  Nor  could  he  ever  have  seen  anything  in  art 
to  suggest  to  him  the  wonderful  colour  effects  in  these  scenes.  He 
also  breaks  with  the  hitherto  accepted  technique  of  painting.  The 
careful  drawing,  the  methods  of  the  goldsmith  and  the  engraver  are 
superseded  in  his  work  by  the  methods  of  the  painter  who  thinks  in 
colour,  whose  outhnes  are  given  and  whose  forms  are  modelled  by 
means  of  light  and  shade.  All  that  was  small  and  painfully  painstak- 
ing in  German  art  vanished  in  his  pictures.  He  let  go  of  himself  and 
his  genius  and  the  result  was  the  expression  of  big,  original  concep- 
tions with  tremendous  impressiveness  and  with  an  almost  over- 
powering emotional  effect  which  was  heightened  by  his  marvellous 
colour  and  light.  He  let  go,  however,  involuntarily  and  uncon- 
sciously; not  as  do  some  of  the  modern  "realists,"  voluntarily  and 
consciously,  and  with  the  result  that  their  pictures  are  chambers 
of  horrors,  imaginings  of  disordered  brains  or  mere  records  of 
freakish  whims.  Griinewald  was  sincerely  taken  possession  of  by 
mighty  conceptions,  under  whose  mastery  he  let  go  unconsciously, 
with  his  gift  of  colour  brought  his  visions  within  our  range  of 
sight,  and  in  doing  so  gave  us  pictures  unique  in  the  history  of  art. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  QUESTION  OF  THE  IDENTITY  OF 
PSEUDO-GRUNEWALD 

IN  the  Castle  at  Aschaffenburg  near  Frankfort  there  are  fifteen 
pictures  upon  which  for  years  an  unusual  degree  of  attention 
and  interest  has  been  concentrated  and  about  the  authorship  of 
which  contention  has  been  rife  among  historians  and  critics.  These 
pictures  represent  the  Virgin  as  Queen  of  Heaven,  the  Holy  Kinship, 
the  Mass  of  St.  Gregory — two  representations — the  Martyrdom 
of  St.  Erasmus,  and  ten  standing  saints  given  in  full  length, 
Maurice,  Magdalen,  Martin,  Erasmus,  Ursula,  Stephen,  Chrysostom, 
Martha,  Mary  Magdalen  and  Lazarus.  They  were  evidently  painted 
for  the  Cardinal  Duke  Albrecht  of  Brandenburg,  as  his  coat-of-arms 
is  in  every  picture  except  the  two  of  the  Mass  of  St.  Gregory,  in 
which  he  himself  is  a  participant  in  the  ceremony. 

When  the  saints  are  presented  in  a  landscape  it  is  so  "modern" 
in  its  atmospheric  quality,  in  the  dramatic  lights  and  shadows 
produced  by  the  many  troubled  clouds  that  chase  one  another  with 
weird  effect  across  the  sky,  that  it  was  at  first  believed  that  no  one 
but  Matthaus  Griinewald  with  his  marvellous  mastery  of  light  could 
have  created  these  pictures.  The  types  and  the  bearing  of  the 
people  are,  however,  foreign  to  Griinewald  and,  though  the  painter  is 
fond  of  shimmering  silks  and  lustrous  velvets  and  furs,  he  does  not 
seek  the  wonderful  colour  effects  of  Griinewald  but  holds  in  the 
main  to  a  cool,  bluish  tone.  So  the  hypothesis  of  his  authorship 
was  given  up  and  the  pictures  were  ascribed  indefinitely  to  an  artist 
who  was  probably  a  pupil  of  Griinewald  who,  in  many  particulars, 
emulated  his  master  and  who,  for  want  of  a  name,  became  known 
as  Pseudo-Griinewald.  Janitschek  and  Niedermeyer  believe  him 
to  be  identical  with  one  Simon  von  Aschaffenburg  of  whom  it  is 
known  that  he  was  court  painter  to  Cardinal  Albrecht  and  that  he 
died  between  1543  and  1546.  Scheibler  contends  that  the  types 
are  the  types  of  Lucas  Cranach  the  Elder  and  that  the  pictures  were 

114 


IDENTITY  OF  PSEUDO-GRUNEWALD  115 

painted  by  him  in  those  early  years  before  he  went  to  Wittenberg, 
of  which  we  possess  no  record.  Some  of  the  pictures  attributed 
to  Pseudo-Griinewald,  in  Aschaffenburg  and  elsewhere,  are  dated, 
however,  as  the  Aschaffenburg  Martyrdom  of  St.  Erasmus,  1516, 
the  Saints,  in  Bamberg  Gallery,  1520,  the  Altar  in  the  Marktkir- 
che,  Halle,  1529.  Now  before  1516  Lucas  Cranach  had  become  an 
exceedingly  busy  painter  in  Wittenberg,  and  his  pictures  of  that 
period  are  not  done  in  the  spirit  of  the  Pseudo-Griinewalds.  His 
landscapes  and  skies  possess  httle  in  common  with  them,  the  people 
portrayed  by  him  are  smaller,  sHghter  in  build  and  more  simple  and 
naive  in  their  natures.  The  Pseudo-Griinewald  people  are  large  and 
stately;  the  women  are  utterly  without  the  native  coquetry  which 
marks  almost  all  Cranach's  women  except  in  the  very  earliest  pictures, 
and  possess  a  capabihty,  a  largeness  of  nature  and  a  serenity  that  would 
be  inconceivable  to  those  of  the  Cranach  type.  The  theory  advanced 
by  Flechsig  that  possibly  that  son  of  Lucas  Cranach  who  was  so 
greatly  gifted  and  so  highly  esteemed,  Johannes  Lucas  Cranach,  who 
died  at  Bologna  in  1537,  was  the  painter  of  the  Pseudo-Griinewalds, 
is  most  interesting  and  reasonable.  It  would  mean  that  Johannes 
Lucas  had  adopted,  in  the  main,  the  external  features  of  his  father's 
types,  had  studied  with  Grunewald  and,  with  inherited  Cranach 
facility,  had  acquired  much  of  his  command  of  light;  and  then 
by  the  force  of  his  own  greatness  had  endowed  his  people — 
especially  the  women — with  the  strength,  nobility  and  steadfast- 
ness which  his  father  possessed  in  himself  but  did  not  reveal  in 
his  pictures. 

From  the  same  hand  as  the  Aschaffenbiu'g  pictures  are  the  two 
pictures  already  referred  to,  the  Altar  in  the  Marktkirche  in  Halle, 
representing  the  Annunciation  and  Saints,  the  Virgin  and  Child  in  a 
nimbus,  with  Cardinal  Albrecht  offering  the  Child  a  book,  and  two 
Saints  with  Donor  in  Bamberg  Gallery.  Over  this  small  group, 
representing  Saints  Walpurga  and  Wilibald  and  the  Bishop  of 
Eichstatt  hovers  a  nude,  winged  cherub,  wholly  in  the  Cranach 
manner.  St.  Walpurga  is  marked  by  a  calm  and  deep  reverence  of 
spirit  and  stillness  of  pose;  St.  Wilibald,  in  Bishop's  regalia,  is  as 
strongly  characterised  as  if  he  had  been  painted  by  Griinewald's 
own  hand;  the  venerable  donor,  in  his  white  robes,  a  small  black  cap 


116  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

on  his  white  hair,  is  drawn  from  Hfe  but  reveals  a  certain  lack 
of  virility  and  decision  of  character  which,  indeed,  may  have 
been  proper  to  him,  but  which,  since  it  marks  such  other  pic- 
tures of  men  by  this  master  as  the  outwardly  large  and  impres- 
sive St.  Lazarus,  seems  rather  to  reveal  a  weakness  in  the  artist 
who  created  him. 

As  to  who  this  interesting  artist  was — the  problem  of  the 
identity  of  Pseudo-Griinewald  must  still  remain  without  conclusive 
settlement.  It  is  possible  that  he  was  Simon  von  Aschaffenburg; 
we  know  nothing  of  Simon's  characteristics  and  he  might  have 
studied  with  Matthaus  Griinewald  before  Griinewald  left  his  na- 
tive town.  To  me  it  seems  impossible  that  he  should  have  been 
Lucas  Cranach  and  that  these  stately,  serene  women  should  be  the 
few  exceptions  to  his  accepted  standard.  But  it  seems  more  than 
probable  that  he  was  his  brilHant  elder  son  Johannes  Lucas 
Cranach,  who  died  in  Bologna  in  1537,  who  gave  us  in  these 
pictures  his  father's  types  ennobled  and  who  had  been  as  well  a 
pupil  of  Griinewald,  from  whom  he  had  gained  a  certain  degree 
of  insight  into  the  effects  of  atmospheric  conditions,  of  clouds, 
Ughts  and  shadows  in  a  landscape. 


Photograph  by  Franz  Hanfstaenjgl 


PSEUDO-GRUNEWALD 

St,  Martha  with  the  Dragon 

CASTLE,    ASCHAFFENBURG 


Photograph  by  Fried.  Hoejlt,  Auysbury 


LUCAS  MOSER 
6t.  Mary  Magdalen  Altar 


CHURCH,    TIEFEXBROXN 

The  Supper  at  the  House  of  Simon;  Voyage  to  Marseilles  with  Martha,  Lazarus  and  Two  Bishops 
*.  ^^^i^*  performs  a  Miracle  in  the  Upper  Room  while  her  Companions  sleep;  Last  Communion 
of  St.  Mary  Magdalen. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  UPPER  RHINE 

LUCAS  MOSER— CONRAD  WITZ— HANS  BALDUNG  GRtN 


TIE  early  artists  of  the  Upper  Rhine  and  Swabia  reveal  them- 
selves, in  observation  and  in  realistic  presentation  of  what 
they  observe,  remarkably  in  advance  of  the  School  of  Cologne. 
It  is  true  that  no  works  remain  to  us  from  the  XIV  century,  so  that 
we  cannot  judge  of  the  ideals  of  the  first  decades;  but  as  early  as  the 
first  half  of  the  XV  century  we  find  the  painters  treating  their  subjects 
in  quite  a  matter  of  fact  fashion,  picturing  the  saints  as  frankly  as 
ordinary  human  beings  and  with  a  degree  of  reahsm  which 
surpasses  even  that  of  the  Van  Eycks.  Perspective  and  light  seem 
to  have  interested  the  painters  of  the  Upper  Rhine  country  almost 
from  the  beginning  and  they  must  have  made  their  experiments  along 
these  fines  at  an  early  date.  Otherwise  there  is  no  explanation  for 
the  creation  of  such  a  work  as  Lucas  Moser's  Tiefenbronn  Altar,  in 
which  the  attempts  at  natural  and  truthful  perspective  and  light  are 
truly  remarkable  for  1431. 

This  altar,  in  the  little  church  in  the  village  of  Tiefen- 
bronn, on  a  high  plateau  in  the  picturesque  valley  of  the  Wurm, 
is  built  in  the  shape  of  a  Gothic  arch  and  was  set  up  in  honour 
of  St.  Mary  Magdalen.  On  the  shrine,  in  wood  carving,  is  the 
Assumption  of  the  saint;  on  the  inner  side  of  the  left  wing  she 
stands  holding  the  box  of  ointment;  on  the  opposite  wing  is  her 
brother,  St.  Lazarus,  wearing  his  episcopal  robes.  When  the 
wings  are  closed,  there  are  presented  four  scenes  from  the  life  of 
the  saint.  On  the  left  we  see  her  with  Martha,  Lazarus  and  two 
other  bishops  in  a  boat  on  the  sea,  bound  for  Marseilles.  She  is  not 
strongly  individualised,  but  is  of  much  girlish  charm  and  overflowing 
with  life  and  energy.  She  wears  a  long  mantle  and  a  characteristic 
headdress  of  the  period  with  a  broad  wimple.  All  in  the  boat  are 
engaged  in  earnest  conversation.  St.  Mary  is  talking  and  gesticulat- 
ing, St.  Lazarus  is  leaning  forward  to  Hsten.     He  has  taken  off  his 

117 


118  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

mitre  to  let  the  fresh  breeze  blow  on  his  tonsured  head.  He  has  also 
drawn  off  his  gloves  and  holds  them  in  his  left  hand.  The  bishop 
sitting  beside  Mary  Magdalen  is  a  real  and  definite  person,  who 
appears  deeply  interested  in  the  subject  under  consideration. 
Martha  and  the  third  bishop  are  not  individualised.  The  boat 
is  very  tiny  to  hold  so  many  people — so  tiny  that  they  seem 
to  extend  over  both  sides  of  it — but  it  has  been  going  at  a  good 
rate  over  the  small,  choppy  waves,  carried  along  by  the  strong 
breeze  which  swells  the  sails  of  the  other  boats  that  dot  the  sea. 
Now  its  sail  is  dropped,  for  it  is  about  to  make  the  landing  at 
Marseilles.  Most  interesting  is  the  attempt  to  convey  the  move- 
ment of  the  ship  and  of  the  water  and  the  light  which,  shining 
across  the  curious  little  waves,  touches  their  crests  with  silver. 

The  saints  arrive  at  their  destination  utterly  weary  from  the 
journey.  The  central  picture  shows  us  the  three  bishops  and  St. 
Martha  overcome  by  sleep  as  they  sit  on  a  low  bench  in  the  red-tiled 
porch  of  a  house  in  this  foreign  city.  One  bishop  is  sunk  in 
profound  slumber,  his  head  resting  upon  his  hand;  a  second,  who 
has  substituted  for  his  mitre  a  small  velvet  cap,  is  still  sitting 
fairly  upright  facing  us,  but  his  eyes  are  shut  tightly.  Lazarus 
is  so  completely  overpowered  by  sleep  that  his  head  has  fallen 
forward,  face  downward,  in  Martha's  lap;  his  mitre  has  fallen  off 
on  the  floor.  Even  Martha  cannot  help  nodding  above  the 
prostrate  Lazarus.  But  Mary  Magdalen  is  awake  and  busy 
with  good  deeds.  Upstairs,  in  the  second  storey  of  the  house 
with  the  porch,  she  may  be  seen  distinctly  through  the  large 
window,  working  a  miracle  of  healing  upon  the  man  and  woman  so 
ill  in  bed . 

Skilfully  joined  to  this  house,  so  that  the  slender  pinnacles  are 
part  on  one  wing  and  part  on  the  other,  is  a  Gothic  church  in  which 
St.  Mary  Magdalen,  upheld  by  angels,  is  receiving  the  sacrament. 
Through  the  many  arches  in  the  background  other  scenes  are  faintly 
visible;  through  the  window  in  the  middle  distance  to  the  left,  a  man 
is  looking  in  upon  the  scene  in  the  church. 

In  the  pointed  arch  at  the  top  of  the  altar  is  set  the  scene  at 
dinner  in  the  house  of  Simon  the  Pharisee.  It  is  a  homely  family 
meal  in  a  leafy  arbour;  the  table  is  rudely  constructed  and  set  as  it 


THE  UPPER  RHINE  119 

might  be  for  a  simple  supper  in  a  German  household.  The  wine  is 
cooHng  in  a  tub  of  water  on  the  ground;  a  serving  maid  is  hurrying 
to  the  table  with  two  covered  plates  and  a  spoon;  a  dog  is  sleeping  on 
the  ground  near  his  master's  end  of  the  table.  Simon  is  dressed  quite 
handsomely  in  the  costume  of  the  period  and  wears  a  fur  trimmed 
cap.  The  serving  maid,  too,  wears  such  a  costume  as  the  artist 
doubtless  saw  daily  in  his  own  household.  Three  of  the  four  people  at 
table  are  conversing  familiarly.  Only  the  presence  of  the  weeping 
Magdalen,  who,  on  her  knees  in  front  of  the  table,  reaches  underneath 
it  to  dry  the  feet  of  Christ  with  one  loosened  braid  of  her  long,  red- 
gold  hair,  and  the  Christ's  air  of  detachment,  convey  any  suggestion 
that  this  differs  from  an  ordinary  supper. 

On  the  predella  is  pictured  the  scene  of  the  Heavenly  Bridegroom 
coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  welcomed  by  the  five  wise  virgins, 
importuned  for  mercy  by  the  five  foolish  virgins  on  whom  he  has 
turned  his  back.  This  subject  of  the  wise  and  foolish  virgins  is  of 
such  frequent  recurrence  in  German  art  as  to  attract  attention, 
especially  since  it  appears  but  rarely  in  the  art  of  any  other  country. 
The  parable  seems  to  have  represented  most  clearly  to  the  mediaeval 
German  Christians  the  personal  relationship  of  Christ  and  his 
people  and  to  have  called  up  most  vividly  before  their  imaginations, 
on  the  one  hand,  the  joy  of  the  moment  of  Christ's  coming  to  those 
who  were  prepared  to  meet  him;  on  the  other,  the  awfulness  of  a 
moment  when  they  might  be  left  in  utter  darkness  outside  the  bHss  of 
heaven,  knocking  at  an  eternally  closed  door,  crying  bitterly  and 
hopelessly  "Lord,  Lord,  open  unto  us!"  Over  and  over  again  the 
story  is  told  in  painting,  wood  carving  and  mystery  play.  So  real 
were  the  emotions  it  called  up  that — the  old  chronicles  tell  us — 
when  it  was  presented  as  a  mystery  play  at  Eisenach  in  1322,  the 
Elector  Frederick  became  so  agitated  he  was  seized  with  an  apoplexy 
which  left  him  dumb  and  lame  until  his  death.  The  virgins  on  Lucas 
Moser's  predella  are  individuahsed  in  quite  a  remarkable  degree,  and 
their  garments  are  fashioned  according  to  the  prevaiHng  mode. 

We  cannot  help  wondering  where  the  painter  of  this  altar- 
piece  learned  how  to  invest  his  figures  with  such  a  degree  of  hfe- 
hkeness  as  those  possess  who  sit  at  table  in  the  house  of  Simon  or  who 
sleep  on  that  porch  in  Marseilles;  how  to  picture  movement  with 


120  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

such  naturalness  as  in  the  servant  waiting  at  table,  and  in  Mary 
Magdalen  hastening  to  the  bedside  of  those  who  lie  at  the  point  of 
death  in  that  upper  room;  how  to  give,  even  though  imperfectly, 
that  view  into  the  church  interior  in  the  communion  scene  and  that 
over  the  wide  stretch  of  shining  water  in  the  voyage  to  Marseilles. 
It  is  so  early  for  this  otherwise  unknown  artist  to  have  attempted 
these  things!  Notwithstanding  the  remarkable  degree  of  success 
he  achieved  in  solving  his  problems,  he  seems  to  have  been  rather 
disheartened  over  the  general  lack  of  interest  in  art,  for  he  has 
inscribed  in  ornamental  letters  of  gold  on  the  green  framing  of  the 
middle  wings  of  the  altar  a  plaint:  "Cry  aloud,  Art,  and  mourn 
bitterly  for  no  one  now  desires  you!  alas!  alas!  1431,  Lucas  Moser  of 
Weil,  Master  of  this  work;  pray  God  for  him!" 

These  problems  of  perspective  and  light  which  were  so  interesting 
to  Lucas  Moser  were  worked  out  with  a  degree  of  success  truly 
astonishing  .for  the  first  half  of  the  XV  century  by  an  artist  who 
worked  on  the  Upper  Rhine  but  a  few  years  later,  Conrad  Witz. 
Though  in  many  particulars,  such  as  the  gold  background,  he  still 
belongs  to  the  old  school,  his  feeling  for  distance,  for  light  in  an  inside 
room  and  as  it  is  caught  and  refracted  by  shimmering  materials  of 
glowing  colour  will  bear  comparison  with  that  of  the  later  Dutch 
masters.  His  types  are  short  and  rather  thick-set,  with  such  ir- 
regular features  and  such  lifelikeness  of  expression  and  attitude  that 
they  seem  very  real  persons. 

Conrad  Witz  was  born  in  Constance,  lived  for  a  time  in  Rothweil 
in  Swabia,  then  moved  to  Basel  where,  in  1434,  he  became  a  Master 
of  the  Guild  and  in  1435  a  citizen  of  the  town.  In  1444  he  went  to 
Geneva  where  he  spent  two  years.     He  died  in  Basel  in  1448. 

Conrad  Witz's  delight  in  the  picturing  of  an  inner  roon  and  its 
lighting  is  felt  in  such  a  picture  as  his  "Annunciation,"  in  the  Germanic 
Museum,  Nuremberg.  The  scene  takes  place  in  no  marble-columned 
hall  or  cathedral  apse,  but  in  such  a  room  as  the  painter  doubtless 
saw  daily  in  any  German  burgerlichen  house,  the  walls  white- 
washed, the  ceiling  timbered.  The  light  strikes  into  the  room 
sharply  from  a  window  in  the  background.  Near  the  centre,  the 
Virgin,  who  is  given  in  profile  and  wears  a  robe  of  greenish  blue, 
sits  reading.     Behind  her  the  door  with  the  great  iron  latch  has 


THE  UPPER  RHINE  121 

opened  to  admit  the  angel  robed  in  red  velvet  with  a  white  alba, 
who  holds  in  his  left  hand  a  scroll  and  points  upward  with  his 
right.  He  has  sunk  upon  one  knee  and  the  Virgin  has  turned 
toward  him,  without,  however,  looking  around  at  him.  The  picture 
is  most  attractive  in  the  unusualness  of  the  setting  and  Hghting 
of  the  scene,  the  extreme  seriousness  of  its  tone  and  the  charm 
of  the  Virgin,  with  her  very  full,  glowingly  coloured  robes,  her 
wavy,  flaxen  hair,  large  eyes,  retrousse  nose  and  the  evident 
alertness  of  her  mind  and  responsiveness  of  her  whole  being. 

Still  more  beautiful  and  alluring  in  hghting  is  the  panel  in 
Strassburg  Gallery  which  presents  St.  Catherine  and  St.  Mary 
Magdalen  seated  in  the  foreground  of  a  Gothic  cloister.  The 
beautiful,  stately  St.  Catherine  is  absorbed  in  reading  a  large  book. 
Her  amazingly  full  robes  of  rich,  red  silk  with  jewelled  trimmings  are 
spread  about  her  in  broken  folds  which  are  bright  and  shimmer- 
ing where  the  light  touches  them,  dark  and  lustrous  in  shadow. 
Her  hair  is  bound  up  and  she  wears  a  jewelled  crown  and  a  halo. 
Her  bearing  is  dignified  and  full  of  distinction.  Beside  her,  to  the 
left,  is  St.  Mary  Magdalen  in  voluminous  robes  of  brightest  green 
silk.  Her  long,  golden  hair  is  unbound  and  falls  in  shining  waves 
over  her  shoulders.  She  wears  a  jewelled  band  instead  of  a  crown. 
Her  right  hand,  adorned  with  three  rings,  rests  on  her  knee;  in  her 
left  hand  is  the  box  of  ointment.  She  is  much  younger  and  more 
girhsh-looking  than  St.  Catherine  and  is  so  natural,  so  lacking  in 
remoteness,  that  she  is  altogether  lovable.  Her  features  are  piquantly 
irregular;  the  chin  is  short  and  rather  pointed,  the  mouth  tender, 
the  forehead  wide,  the  nose  retrousse.  The  green  of  her  dress, 
faintly  reflected,  touches  with  green  her  cheeks  and  the  tip  of 
her  nose.  Her  large,  full  eyes  are  fixed  in  eager  regard  on  some 
object  above  and  beyond  St.  Catherine — perhaps  the  sky  above  the 
cloister  court. 

Behind  the  two  saints  stretches  the  long  Gothic  corridor.  In  a 
small  chapel  to  the  left  an  altar  is  visible,  with  candles  and  a  painted 
altar-piece.  The  hght  falls  so  that  the  columns  on  the  right 
cast  Kttle  patches  and  lines  of  shadow  and  St.  Catherine's 
wheel  is  reflected  on  the  pavement  beneath  it.  Away  in  the  back- 
ground an  arch  opens  on  a  street  in  which  several  people  are  walking 


122  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

and  talking;  one  of  them  is  reflected  in  a  puddle  of  water  in  the 
middle  of  the  road.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  street  is  an  art  store 
with  little  carved  figures  in  the  windows. 

A  still  wider  vista  is  opened  before  us  in  the  master's  "Holy 
Family"  in  Naples  Gallery,  which  gives  a  view  of  the  inside  of 
Basel  Cathedral,  which  in  the  correctness  of  its  perspective  and 
the  charm  of  its  light  and  shade,  vies  with  the  later  Dutch 
pictures  of  interiors. 

An  artist  whose  conceptions  are  original  and  interesting  and 
whose  types  possess  much  charm,  Conrad  Witz's  chief  attraction, 
nevertheless,  lies  in  his  fresh  enthusiasm  for  the  problem  of 
perspective,  light  and  shade  and  in  the  remarkable  truth  and 
beauty  of  his  attempts  at  their  solution. 

The  interest  in  light  which  was  so  marked  a  characteristic  of 
the  XV  century  painters  of  the  Upper  Rhine  persisted  into  the  XVI 
century  and  the  manner  in  which  it  reveals  and  exalts  the  sentiment 
of  his  pictures  is  one  of  the  chief  elements  of  the  charm  of  Strassburg's 
greatest  artist,  Hans  Baldung  Griin.  Hans  Baldung  was  born  in 
Weyerstein-on-Turm  near  Strassburg  in  1476.  His  father,  Johann 
Baldung,  was  a  distinguished  lawyer,  his  brother  Caspar  belonged 
to  the  faculty  of  Freiburg  University.  In  1507,  having  completed 
his  period  of  apprenticeship  and  his  Wanderjahre,  he  settled  in 
Strassburg,  becoming  a  citizen  two  years  later.  In  1511  he  received 
a  commission  to  paint  the  High  Altar  for  Freiburg  Cathedral,  and 
went  there  to  live  for  the  five  years  he  was  engaged  on  it.  Then  he 
returned  to  his  home  in  Strassburg,  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
City  Council  and  continued  to  reside  there  until  his  death  in  1545. 

The  earliest  influence  noticeable  in  the  development  of  Hans 
Baldung' s  art  is  that  of  Diirer,  which  is  very  evident  in  the  two 
panels  painted  in  1507  for  the  Stadtkirche  in  Halle,  one  of  which, 
now  in  Berlin  Gallery,  represents  the  Adoration  of  the  Kings,  the 
other  in  Fraulein  Przibram's  Collection,  Vienna,  the  Martyrdom 
of  St.  Sebastian.  The  type  of  the  Madonna  in  the  Adoration  is 
Diirer's,  the  drawing  and  modelling  in  both  pictures  are  reminiscent 
of  him,  the  draperies  fall,  as  he  would  have  pictured  them,  in  many 
broken  folds.  Among  the  colours  in  these,  as  in  the  artist's  other 
pictures,  a  briUiant  green  is  prominent,  the  constant  use  of  which 


CONRAD  WITZ 

Saints  Mary  Magdalen  and  Catherine  in  a  Cloister 

gallery,  8tra8sburg 


Photograph  by  Geo.  RoIm 


HANS  BALDUNG  GRUN 

Holy  Night,  Flight  into  Egypt 

FROM    THE    high    ALTAR,    FREIBURG    CATHEDRAL 


THE  UPPER  RHINE  123 

gave  him  his  nickname  "Griin"  or  "Grien;"  Diirer,  in  his  diary, 
calls  him  "  Griinhans." 

Before  he  began  the  work  for  Freiburg  Cathedral  he  had  come 
under  a  second  powerful  influence — the  mighty  spell  of  Grunewald's 
colour  and  light,  which  every  picture  in  the  great  altar  reveals  in 
greater  or  lesser  degree. 

The  shrine,  which  contains  the  Coronation  of  the  Virgin  and 
the  twelve  apostles,  is  the  least  interesting  section  of  the  altar. 
God  the  Father  and  Christ  lack  nobihty,  the  pose  of  the  Virgin 
borders  on  affectation.  The  crowds  of  angels  are  given  in  such 
very  white  hght  that  they  are  without  glory.  The  Dove  is  a 
radiance,  the  halo  an  aureole  of  intangible  Hght  rays  as  in  the  Griine- 
wald  pictures.  Among  the  apostles  are  many  figures  that  are  un- 
questionably portraits. 

On  the  wings  are  the  Annunciation,  Visitation,  Holy  Night  and 
FHght  into  Egypt.  The  scene  of  the  Annunciation  is  a  trifle  theat- 
rical; the  Virgin's  attitude  seems  self-conscious,  her  amazement,  hu- 
mility and  joy  are  unconvincing.  The  angel's  wings  are  many  col- 
oured; his  green  robes  are  turned  almost  to  white  where  the  strong  light 
falls  upon  their  folds.  The  Dove  is  Hght  which  barely  assumes  form. 
In  the  Visitation  the  forms  are  large,  full  and  stately  and  the  Vir- 
gin is  of  rare  beauty.  The  Holy  Night  is  a  strikmg  anticipation 
of  Correggio.  From  the  beautiful  Babe  a  light  radiates  which 
illumines  the  faces  of  the  Virgin  and  Joseph  and  touches  the  near 
building  in  which  are  the  cattle.  But  while  the  artist's  power  over 
Hght  in  such  a  picture  as  this  so  strongly  suggests  the  influence  of 
Grunewald,  the  Strassburg  painter  never  for  a  moment  attains  the 
subHme  heights  of  the  Isenheim  altar.  Instead  of  subHmity  a 
graceful,  whimsical  fancifulness  characterises  him  and  the  atmos- 
phere of  his  pictures  is  that  of  a  lovely  fairy  tale.  Thus  in  the 
Holy  Night,  while  tiny  angels  hover  about  the  child,  a  Httle  bird 
pecks  at  the  flowers  and  small  rabbits  nibble  greens. 

The  Flight  into  Egypt,  is  a  charming,  poetic  idyll.  The  shaggy 
donkey,  with  his  precious  burden,  is  going  at  a  good  pace  down  hill. 
All  about  bloom  flowers;  a  snail  and  a  bird  are  right  in  the  path. 
Joseph,  a  thick-set,  strong  peasant,  carrying  a  knapsack  and  a 
rosary,  is  looking  back  adoringly  at  the  Virgin,  who,  wearing  a  soft, 


124  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

veil-like  headdress  and  full  robes  of  which  the  draping  recalls  Dtlrer,  is 
supporting  the  Child  on  her  left  arm  while  with  the  right,  which  is 
held  in  a  very  unnatural  and  undoubtedly  very  tiring  position,  she 
guides  the  donkey  with  a  piece  of  rope  for  a  bridle.  A  date  palm 
over  their  heads  is  full  of  little  winged  angels,  one  of  whom  has  let 
himself  down  by  the  end  of  a  branch  so  that  he  stands  on  the  donkey 
and  can  look  at  the  lovely  baby  Christ. 

On  the  back  of  the  shrine  is  *'The  Crucifixion,"  in  which  the  painter 
himself,  wearing  a  red  cap,  has  joined  the  group  about  the  cross. 
To  the  right  of  the  central  picture  are  St.  John  the  Baptist  and  St. 
Jerome;  to  the  left,  St.  Lawrence  and — a  most  imposing  figure — St. 
George  in  full  armour  wearing  a  helmet  with  long,  waving,  white 
plumes.  On  the  base  are  the  three  male  donors,  unmistakably 
portraits  from  life,  adoring  the  Virgin  and  Child  in  a  Glory. 

Besides  the  High  Altar  there  are  in  one  of  the  Chapels  two  wings 
of  a  second  altar  which  represent  the  Baptism  of  Christ  and  St.  John 
on  Patmos.  The  river  in  which  the  Baptism  takes  place  forms  part  of 
a  large  landscape.  God  the  Father  is  seen  in  the  sky  above,  the  Dove 
has  alighted  on  the  head  of  Christ.  The  scene  fails  to  be  impressive, 
however;  it  is  so  commonplace  and  lacking  in  elevation  that  the 
greatest  attraction  of  the  picture  lies  in  the  naturalness  of  the 
rapidly  flowing  water  of  the  stream. 

The  *'  St.  John  on  Patmos  "  shows  us  the  saint  in  a  red  robe  under  a 
tree  all  festooned  with  moss  as  in  Grunewald's  "St.  Anthony  and 
St.  Paul."  The  island  is  in  the  foreground,  the  sea  stretches  into  the 
background  quite  to  the  edge  of  the  picture.  In  the  sky  above  in  a 
circle  of  curling  clouds,  appear  the  very  lovely  Virgin  and  Child. 

About  the  end  of  the  Freiburg  period,  in  1516,  the  "Martyrdom 
of  St.  Dorothea,"  now  in  the  Rudolphinum,  Prague,  was  painted,  in 
which  the  scene  is  set  in  a  winter  landscape  which  is  most  unusual 
and  fascinating.  From  the  same  year  dates  "The Deluge,"  in  Bamberg 
Gallery,  which,  though  but  a  small  picture,  possesses  unusual  power 
by  virtue  of  the  dramatic  quality  with  which  the  light  shining  upon 
the  falling  rain  or  the  mists  touches  all  the  air  with  rainbow  hues — an 
effect  which  is  quite  Griinewaldesque.  This  subject  offers,  too,  an 
opportunity  of  which  the  artist  takes  full  advantage,  to  paint  the 
nude  human  form  in  almost  every  conceivable  attitude.     And  this  is 


Photograph  by  Fried.  Hoefle,  Augsburg 

HANS  BALDUNG  GRUN 
Allegorical  Figure — Music 

GERMANIC   MUSEUM,    NUREMBERG 


THE  UPPER  RHINE  125 

just  the  beginning;  from  this  time  Baldmig  Griin's  works  reveal  a  new 
dehght  in  the  presentation  of  the  nude.  The  type  chosen  is  the 
full,  mature  form  portrayed  by  the  Venetians  and  by  such  a  German- 
ised Venetian  as  Jacopo  de'  Barbari.  In  one  of  the  two  pictures  in 
Basel  Gallery  painted  in  1517,  which  represent  Death  and  the  Maiden, 
he  pictures  a  woman  quite  of  the  Titian  or  Palma  Vecchio  type,  with 
flowing  golden-brown  hair,  who  shudderingly  tries  to  pull  up  the 
drapery  which  has  slipped  from  her  body  as  she  shrinks  from  the 
kiss  of  Death  who  has  come  up  behind  her.  In  the  other  picture 
the  maiden  in  transparent  gauze  robes  yields  to  this  weird  lover's 
insistence  as  if  utterly  dazed. 

Three  allegories  painted  some  year  later,  between  1523  and  1529, 
also  present  very  beautiful  studies  of  the  human  form.  The  fact 
that  one  of  them,  "The  Two  Witches,"  in  the  Stadel  Institute, 
Frankfort,  was  formerly  in  Rome,  helps  to  confirm  the  theory  of  a 
sojourn  made  by  the  artist  in  Italy.  It  shows,  in  a  twilight  landscape, 
under  a  wild  sky,  two  women  one  of  whom  is  riding  a  goat  and  holding 
aloft  a  glass  in  which  is  a  little  devil  (  ?).  A  small  Amor  is  pulling  her 
robe  from  her.  The  other  woman,  nude  and  without  symbol,  is 
also  pulling  at  the  garments  of  the  one  riding  the  goat.  Of  the  other 
two  allegories,  which  are  in  the  Germanic  Museum,  Nuremberg, 
the  one  represents  Wisdom,  a  nude  figure  bearing  a  serpent  and  a 
mirror;  the  other.  Music,  holding  a  violin  and  a  music  book,  with,  at 
her  feet,  a  white  cat.  In  these  allegorical  pictures  and  the  two  of 
Death  and  the  Maiden,  Hans  Baldung  painted  the  most  beautiful 
nude  forms  in  the  German  art  of  the  XVI  century  and  approached 
more  nearly  than  any  other  northern  artist  the  Venetian  ideal  of 
beauty. 

Inevitably  the  painter  attracted  the  attention  of  that  distin- 
guished patron  of  the  arts,  Cardinal  Albrecht  of  Brandenburg.  Two 
of  the  pictures  he  painted  for  him  are  still  in  Aschaffenburg  Castle. 
The  one,  "The  Crucifixion,"  bears  in  the  corner  of  the  picture  the 
Cardinal's  coat-of-arms;  the  other,  "The  Holy  Night,"  is  very  similar 
to  the  scene  on  the  Freiburg  Altar,  and  is  full  of  poetry  and  charm. 

Baldung  Griin  also  won  considerable  fame  as  a  portrait  painter. 
HisearHer  portraits,  as  those  of  Elector  Christopher  of  Baden,  1511, 
and  Phihp  the  Warlike,  1517,  are  marked  by  a  certain  hardness  and 


126  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

sharpness  which  later  disappeared,  giving  place  to  softness  of  contour 
and  naturalness.  His  subjects  are  presented  with  considerable  in- 
sight and  the  colouring  is,  in  many  cases,  of  unusual  beauty.  His 
*'Head  of  an  Old  Man,"  in  Berlin  Gallery,  was,  indeed,  long  attributed 
to  Diirer. 

Besides  a  great  number  of  paintings,  the  artist  has  left  many 
beautiful  drawings.  He  was  one  of  the  artists  chosen  by  the  Emperor 
Maximilian  to  illustrate  his  Prayerbook  and  began  work  for  it  in 
1515.  Eight  drawings  from  his  hand,  with  such  varied  subjects  as 
the  Crucifixion,  the  Pieta,  children  playing  with  lions  and  with 
crocodiles  are  in  the  Besangon  fragment  and  are,  next  to  Diirer' s, 
the  most  beautiful  drawings  in  the  Prayerbook.  His  sketch  book, 
in  Carlsruhe  Gallery,  is  filled  with  interesting  drawings  for  portraits 
and  landscapes  and  studies  of  plants  and  animals. 

Hans  Baldung  Griin  is  not  a  great  creative  artist.  He  takes  from 
other  artists,  from  Diirer,  Griinewald  and  the  Itahans,  whatever 
attracts  him,  adapts  it  to  his  need,  makes  it  his  own.  Sometimes  we 
feel  that  he  almost  belittles  the  Grtlnewaldesque  effects  in  Hght  and 
colour  by  the  readiness  with  which  he  introduces  his  adaptations  of 
them  into  scenes  which,  in  their  content  or  in  the  spirit  in  which  they 
are  conceived,  do  not  call  for  any  such  supernatural  manifestations. 
Again,  in  spite  of  a  certain  Httleness,  superficiality  and  occasional 
self-consciousness,  he  creates  with  his  light  and  colour  an  atmosphere 
of  idyllic  peace  or  of  tender  intimacy.  His  pictures  are  not  often 
powerful,  impressive,  wonder-stirring,  but  are  rather  deHcately  fanci- 
ful. He  presents  unusually  lovely  types  with  tenderness  and  in  soft, 
warm  colours,  investing  almost  all  his  pictures  with  the  quality  of 
poetic  charm. 


CHAPTER  XVII 
MARTIN  SCHONGAUER  AND  THE  COLMAR  SCHOOL 

CASPER  ISENMANN— MARTIN  SCHONGAUER 
— LUDWIG  SCHONGAUER 

ALMOST  in  the  Rhineland,  the  little  Alsatian  town  of  Colmar 
at  the  foot  of  the  Vosges  mountains  developed  one  of  the  most 
important  schools  of  painting  and  engraving  in  the  XV 
century.  It  was  toward  Colmar  that  Diirer  the  student  turned  his 
steps,  toward  the  workshop  of  the  great  Martin  Schongauer  whose 
fame  and  whose  influence  had  spread  not  only  throughout  Germany 
but  to  Italy  as  well,  where  one  of  the  earliest  of  Michael  Angelo's 
drawings  is  a  free  copy  of  his  "Temptation  of  St.  Anthony"  and 
Raphael's  "Entombment"  is,  in  composition,  almost  identical  with 
his  engraving  of  the  same  subject. 

The  earliest  artist  on  the  records  of  Colmar,  and  probably  the 
teacher  of  the  great  Schongauer,  was  Caspar  Isenmann,  to  whom  as 
"painter  and  citizen  of  Colmar"  the  painting  of  a  High  Altar  for  its 
principal  church,  St.  Martin's,  was  entrusted  in  1462.  The  condi- 
tions named  in  the  contract  were  that  it  "must  be  painted  with  the 
best  oils  on  a  gold  ground  and  finished  within  two  years."  On  the 
back  of  this  parchment  contract  is  written:  "N.  B.  In  the  year  1720, 
the  last  Thursday  of  the  week  of  Corpus  Christi,  after  the  proces- 
sion, the  iron  braces  which  held  this  altar  at  the  back  became  loose, 
so  that  this  altar  fell  down  and  broke."  The  sections  remaining 
are  now  in  the  Museum  in  Colmar.  They  consist  of  seven  scenes 
from  the  Passion,  from  the  Triumphal  Entry  to  the  Resurrection. 
The  three  saints  on  the  outer  sides,  Nicholas,  Catherine  and  Law- 
rence, are  the  work  of  a  pupil. 

Caspar  Isenmann's  aim  in  the  Colmar  altar  is  realism.  The 
people  who  take  part  in  his  dramatic  scenes  are  undersized  and 
ordinary,  with  prominent  cheek-bones,  large  noses  and  wide  mouths. 
The  villains  are  monstrous.  In  the  attempt  to  express  fully  the 
individuaUty  of  each  person  he  often  characterises  to  the  point  of 
caricaturing  them;  yet  with  all  this  characterisation  of  the  heads,  the 

127 


128  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

bodies  are  poorly  drawn,  the  poses  often  impossible.  Burlesque 
details  are  freely  introduced.  The  atmosphere  of  sanctity  is  absent 
from  his  scenes  as  the  stamp  of  divinity  or  even  of  high  nobility  is 
lacking  in  his  Christ.  Occasionally,  but  very  rarely,  there  is  a 
personality  which  attracts  us,  not  by  beauty,  but  by  force  of  character, 
as  the  old  man  at  the  head  of  Christ  in  the  "Taking  down  from  the 
Cross." 

Yet  in  all  probability  it  was  in  Caspar  Isenmann's  workshop 
that  Martin  Schongauer  served  his  apprenticeship  and  received  his 
technical  training.  Martin  Schongauer — called  also  Martin  Schon 
and  Hiibsch  Martin — belonged  to  a  patrician  family  of  Augsburg, 
but  his  father,  Caspar  Schongauer,  became  a  citizen  of  Colmar  in 
1445,  after  which  date  Martin  was  born.  As  a  boy  he  doubtless 
learned  something  of  the  goldsmith's  art  from  his  father;  in  his 
engravings  are  several  patterns  for  smoking  jars  and  other  small 
articles  which  suggest  familiarity  with  it.  Like  Dtirer,  he  turned 
away  from  it  to  painting,  in  which  art  he  probably  served  his  ap- 
prenticeship in  the  workshop  of  Caspar  Isenmann,  by  whom  he  was 
influenced  strongly  in  the  direction  of  realism.  An  old  tradition  main- 
tains that  Schongauer  then  went  to  the  Netherlands  and  studied  with 
Roger  van  der  Weyden.  This  is  hardly  probable,  as  Roger  died  in 
1464;  nevertheless  Schongauer  was  strongly  influenced  by  the  art  of 
the  Flemish  master.  Most  of  his  work  was  done  in  Colmar,  where 
he  gathered  about  him  a  large  school  of  painters  and  engravers. 
Commissions  came  to  him,  too,  from  neighbouring  towns;  one  such 
took  him  to  Breisach,  where  he  died  in  1491. 

Of  this  master's  personal  appearance  we  can  learn  from  two 
portraits,  the  one  painted  by  himself  in  1483,  in  Siena  Pinakothek, 
and  a  later  copy  by  Hans  Burgkmair,  who  worked  for  a  time  in  his 
atelier,  in  the  Pinakothek  in  Munich.  The  Siena  portrait  shows  a 
fine  head,  with  large,  brown  eyes,  short  nose,  beautifully  cut  lips  and 
strong,  curving  chin.  He  is  dressed  in  black,  with  a  fur-Uned  cloak 
and  black  cap.  On  the  back  of  the  Munich  portrait  is  written 
"Martin  Schongauer,  called  beautiful  Martin  on  account  of  his  art, 
was  born  at  Colmar,  but  his  parents  belonged  to  an  Augsburg  family." 
Wimpheling,  writing  shortly  after  the  artist's  death,  says  that  "his 
pictures,  on  account  of  their  artistic  worth,  were  in  demand  in  Italy, 


THE  COLMAR  SCHOOL  129 

Spain,  France,  England  and  other  points  of  the  world.'*  Un- 
fortunately, so  few  of  his  paintings  are  left  to  us  that  historians  and 
critics  cannot  form  any  adequate  judgment  of  his  greatness  as  a 
painter  and  are  in  the  habit  of  dwelling,  instead,  on  his  distinction  as 
one  of  the  world's  greatest  engravers. 

His  best  known  painting  is  a  work  of  his  youth,  the  "  Madonna  in 
the  Rose  Arbour,"  in  St.  Martin's  Church  in  Colmar,  dated  1473. 
The  Virgin,  of  a  type  similar  to  Roger  van  der  Wey den's,  is  presented 
rather  above  life  size,  seated  in  an  arbour  of  rose  vines,  in  which 
perch  many  little,  brightly  coloured  birds.  In  her  arms  she  holds  the 
Christ  Child  who  clings  about  her  neck  in  very  natural,  human 
fashion.  Her  long,  full  robe,  red  as  the  roses  blooming  all  about  her, 
falls  in  graceful  folds.  She  is  mature,  strong,  capable  looking  but  not 
superficially  beautiful.  The  forehead  is  very  high,  the  face  broad, 
with  prominent  cheek  bones,  the  throat  muscular.  The  eyes, 
however,  are  large  and  tender  and  the  abundant  hair  hangs  in  heavy, 
wavy  masses.  The  hands  are  very  long  with  tapering  fingers.  The 
babe  is  tall  and  slender  with  closely  curHng  hair.  The  background 
is  gold,  the  drawing  sharp  and  definite  almost  to  hardness.  An  air  of 
pensiveness  pervades  the  picture;  mother  and  child  alike  seem  not  to 
think  of  the  beauty  about  them  or  of  the  joyous  presence  of  the  two 
angels  who  hold  the  crown  above  the  Virgin's  head,  but  rather  to  be 
sunk  in  contemplation  of  the  weary  burdens  the  future  holds  for 
them.  Yet  through  this  pensiveness,  the  realisation  of  protective 
motherhood,  with  the  tender,  human  touch  of  the  child's  close 
clinging  to  the  mother,  makes  the  dominant  impression  of  the 
picture  that  of  strength,  beneficence  and  repose. 

In  the  Museum  in  Colmar  is  a  series  of  paintings  from  the 
Passion,  from  the  Last  Supper  to  the  Descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
with,  on  the  back,  scenes  from  the  Life  of  the  Virgin,  painted  in  oils 
and  with  landscape  backgrounds.  These  pictures  are  so  unequal  as 
to  make  it  certain  that  they  were  painted  by  several  different  artists, 
though  they  were  probably  all  done  in  Schongauer's  workshop  after 
his  designs,  with  here  and  there  some  bits  executed  by  the  master's 
own  hand.  The  villains  recall  Caspar  Isenmann's,  the  "  Taking  down 
from  the  Cross"  is  weak  and  affected,  while  the  "Triumphal  Entry" 
is  natural  and  dignified  and  the  group  of  sleeping  disciples  in  the  fine 


130  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

landscape  of  the  "Christ  in  Gethsemane"  is  worthy  of  Schongauer 
himself. 

Like  Caspar  Isenmann's,  Schongauer's  greatest  interest  as  both 
a  painter  and  engraver  was  in  the  natural,  realistic  presentation  of 
things,  persons  and  actions.  But  this  passion  for  realism  was,  in  his 
works,  controlled  by  a  fine  sense  of  proportion  and  normality  which 
was  lacking  in  the  older  master.  He  did  not  make  the  mistake  of  con- 
fusing the  real  with  the  abnormal.  Thus  in  portraying  the  tor- 
mentors of  Christ,  for  example,  he  usually  stopped  short  of  the  line 
at  which  simple  ugliness  ends  and  deformity  or  degeneracy  begins. 
More  and  more  as  his  own  individuality  developed  and  asserted 
itself  was  he  governed  by  this  sense  of  proportion  in  the  creation  of 
his  types  and  the  unfolding  of  his  dramas.  The  people  became  more 
refined,  the  figures  less  angular  and  stiff,  the  personalities  less  ag- 
gressive or  uncompromising,  more  gifted  with  the  power  of  attraction 
and  charm.  So  in  the  Colmar  altar  representing  the  Annunciation 
and  the  Adoration  of  the  Child  by  the  Virgin  and  St.  Anthony,  the 
Virgin,  though  of  the  type  of  the  Madonna  in  the  Rose  Arbour,  is 
more  youthful  looking  and  charming,  the  angel  is  beautiful  and  the 
grey-bearded  St.  Anthony  possesses  fine  dignity  and  distinction. 
At  St.  Anthony's  feet  kneels  the  donor,  with  the  coat-of-arms  of 
the  D'  Orliac  family,  a  member  of  which  was  abbot  of  the  mon- 
astery at  Isenheim  from  1466  to  1490  and  is  presented  in  the 
carved  section  of  the  Isenheim  altar. 

The  most  beautiful  of  the  Schongauer  paintings  that  are  left 
to  us  is  the  small  "Holy  Family"  which  is  in  Munich  Pinako- 
thek.  In  the  hilly  landscape  beside  the  stable  in  which  the  Christ 
was  born  the  Virgin  is  seen  playing  with  her  babe,  to  whom  she  offers 
a  flower  culled  from  among  the  many  that  make  beautiful  the  knoll 
on  which  she  is  sitting.  She  is  youthful  looking  and  graceful, 
with  soft  contours  and  warm  colouring  and  wears  voluminous 
robes  of  bright  red.  The  picture  is  full  of  colour  and  joyousness 
and  charm. 

In  all  Schongauer's  work  the  drawing  was  his  main  interest,  as  was 
natural  in  an  artist  whose  chief  activity  was  engraving.  For,  as  has 
been  said,  Schongauer's  art  is  to  be  most  satisfactorily  studied  and 
most  fully  appreciated  in  his  engravings.     These  treat  an  endless 


Photograph  by  Franz  Hanfstaengl 


MARTIN  SCHOXGAUER 

The  Nativity 
alte  pinakothek,  munich 


THE  COLMAR  SCHOOL  131 

variety  of  subjects,  religious,  mythological  and  from  every-day  life, 
many  of  them  over  and  over  again,  from  different  viewpoints  and  with 
ever  a  fresh  interpretation.  As  the  artist  developed,  the  anatomic 
construction  of  the  figures  in  his  pictures  and  plates  gradually  received 
less  emphasis;  they  remain  strong  and  muscular  but  they  are  more 
refined  and  graceful  in  their  strength.  Their  draperies  are  very  full 
and  hang  in  excessively  broken  folds;  their  movements  are  purposeful 
and  often  dramatic.  Schongauer's  conceptions  are  so  fresh  and  power- 
ful, his  motifs  so  original  and  well-invented,  his  execution  so  skilful  that 
it  is  small  wonder  that  his  influence  was  so  strongly  felt  in  every  Ger- 
man school  and  in  Italy  as  well.  Engravings,  too,  travel  more  easily 
than  altar-pieces  and  no  doubt  extended  the  knowledge  of  his  art 
farther  than  it  could  have  reached  had  he  confined  his  activities  to 
painting.  Of  all  the  northern  engravers  before  the  great  master 
of  Nuremberg  his  gifts  and  influence  were  the  most  widely  felt;  in 
volume  of  work,  depth  of  insight,  imaginative  and  creative  power, 
and  truth  of  presentation,  as  well  as  in  technical  equipment,  he 
stands  as  the  greatest  German  engraver  except  Durer. 

After  Martin  Schongauer's  death  the  school  in  Colmar  was  carried 
on  by  his  brother  Ludwig,  who  had  previously  been  working  in  Ulm 
and  Augsburg.  Of  Ludwig's  works  nothing  authentic  remains,  but 
some  pictures  have  been  attributed  to  him  on  the  ground  of  their 
resemblance  to  the  works  of  his  brother  Martin. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

GERMAN  SWITZERLAND 

THE  GROUPS  OF  PAINTERS  IN  BASEL,  BERN  AND  ZURICH 

Basel:  Hans  Herbst — Hans  Dyg — Hans  Fries — Urs  Graf — Jacob 
Klauser — Hans  Hug  Kluber — Hans  Bock — Tobias  Slimmer. 
Bern:  Master  with  the  Carnation — Nicholas  Manuel  Deutsch. 
Zurich  :  Hans  Leu — Hans  Asper. 

IN  the  opening  years  of  the  XVI  century,  Basel,  on  the  border 
between  Germany  and  Switzerland,  attracted  many  artists  by 
reason  of  its  great  publishing  houses,  which  could  always  furnish 
them  occupation  and  a  means  of  livelihood  in  illustrating  the  new 
editions  of  the  classics,  the  translations  of  the  Bible  and  the  writings  of 
the  great  reformers.  Thus  when  Hans  the  Younger  and  Ambrosius 
Holbein  arrived  there,  they  were  welcomed  into  a  circle  of  artists 
with  at  least  one  of  whom  they  became  intimate,  Hans  Herbst  or 
Herbster,  whose  portrait  Ambrosius  painted  in  1516.  It  presents 
a  picturesque,  intense-looking  man,  with  heavy,  dark  hair  and  a 
full  beard.  Concerning  his  life,  we  know  that  he  was  born  in 
Strassburg  in  1468,  but  became  a  member  of  the  Guild  in  Basel 
in  1492.  In  1512  he  was  in  Pavia,  and  doubtless  visited  other 
centres  of  art  in  Italy  on  this  same  journey.  He  became  an 
ardent  follower  of  Luther,  with  such  intense  convictions  that  he 
even  stopped  painting,  as  did  Fra  Bartolommeo  under  the  influence 
of  the  Savonarola  revival  in  Italy,  in  order  not  to  encourage  the 
worship  of  idols.  He  suffered  imprisonment  for  heresy  and  under- 
went many  discomforts  before  he  was  set  at  liberty.  He  died 
in  1550.  So  interesting  and  positive  is  the  personality  of  this 
artist  that  it  seems  doubly  unfortunate  that  no  authentic  works 
from  his  hand  remain;  they  probably  perished  in  the  "picture 
storming"  of  the  Reformation. 

A  second  member  of  the  Basel  group  of  painters  was  Hans  Dyg, 
who  was  born  in  Zurich,  but  who  became  a  member  of  the  Guild  in 
Basel  in  1503.    In  1519-1520  he  painted,  in  the  City  Hall,  "  The  Last 

132 


GERMAN  SWITZERLAND  133 

Judgment,"  which  has  been  restored  so  often  that  it  is  quite 
impossible  to  judge  of  its  original  character. 

A  third  artist,  Hans  Fries,  spent  only  one  year  in  Basel,  1487- 
1488.  He  was  born  in  Freiburg  in  Switzerland  in  1465,  served  his 
apprenticeship  in  Bern  with  a  Master  Heinrich  Bechler  and,  after 
short  sojourns  in  Basel  and  Colmar,  returned  to  Freiburg  where  he 
lived  until  his  death  in  1518.  His  altar-piece  in  the  Germanic 
Museum,  Nuremberg,  painted  in  1501,  presents  the  Virgin  and 
Child  with  an  Abbot,  the  Stigmatisation  of  St.  Francis,  Virgin  and 
St.  Anne  and  Martyrdom  of  St.  Sebastian.  The  figures  are  full  of 
life  and  movement,  the  colouring  deep  and  strong.  Two  scenes  from 
the  Life  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  in  Basel  Kunstsammlung,  show  the 
influence  of  the  painter's  visit  to  Colmar:  indeed  the  "  St.  John  writing 
the  Book  of  Revelations"  is  practically  a  copy  of  the  Schongauer 
engraving  of  the  same  subject. 

A  unique  personahty  in  this  circle  of  artists  was  Urs  Graf,  who 
was  born  in  Solothurn  between  1485  and  1490,  worked  for  a  time  in 
Zurich,  then  came  to  Basel,  where  he  married,  acquired  citizenship, 
and  became  a  member  of  the  Guild  in  1512.  In  1515  he  joined  the 
Swiss  army  against  Francis  I  of  France.  His  whole  life  was  filled 
with  adventures,  many  of  which  brought  him  into  difliculties  with  the 
courts-of-law.     He  died  about  1536. 

Urs  Graf  is  known  to  us,  not  through  his  paintings,  but  through 
his  many  drawings  for  wood  cuts.  His  only  authentic  painting  is  a 
small  allegorical  picture  in  Basel  Kunsthalle,  representing  the  terrors 
of  war.  Mars  and  Bellona,  seated  on  the  clouds,  are  pouring  fire 
upon  the  world  below,  where,  on  one  side,  a  battle  is  in  progress,  on  the 
other,  captives  are  being  tortured.  The  drawing  of  the  small 
figures  is  done  with  a  sure  hand,  the  characterisation  is  positive  and 
reaHstic  enough.  His  favourite  subject  in  his  drawings,  most  of  which 
are  in  Basel  Kunsthalle,  is  the  life  of  the  Lanzknecht,  a  figure  bold, 
dashing  and  gay  to  the  point  of  coarseness,  whom  he  presents  over 
and  over  again  with  evident  delight,  standing  in  various  poses, 
marching  with  a  banner  inscribed  "All  my  money  lost  in  play," 
thieving,  caressing  a  maiden,  or  as  an  irresponsible  person  whose 
leading  strings  are  held  by  the  devil.  Among  the  drawings  are 
also  scenes  from  the  Bible  and  from  the  legends  of  the  saints,  in 


134  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

which  the  people  are  given,  in  the  main,  the  same  characteristics  as 
the  Lanzknechte  and  their  country  lasses. 

To  the  second  half  of  the  XVI  century  belonged  Jacob  Klauser, 
who  was  born  in  Zurich  but  became  a  member  of  the  Guild  in  Basel  in 
1547.  Of  interest,  mainly,  it  must  be  confessed,  because  of  its 
subject,  is  his  portrait  of  Boniface  Amerbach,  in  Basel  Kunst- 
sammlung,  which  was  painted  in  1557. 

A  native  of  Basel  was  Hans  Hug  Kluber,  who  was  born  about 
1535,  and  died  in  1578.  Three  pictures  from  his  hand  in  the  Kunst- 
sammlung  there,  the  "Birth  of  Christ"  and  portraits  of  Hans 
Rispach  and  his  wife  Barbara,  show  the  influence  of  Holbein,  as  do 
the  works  of  Hans  Bock  (1545-1623)  by  whom  are  the  portraits  of 
Melchior  Hornlocher  and  his  wife  Katherine,  and  a  small  picture, 
"  Hercules  strangling  the  Serpent,"  in  Basel  Kunstsammlung. 

An  artist  who  does  not  properly  belong  to  this  circle  of  artists, 
but  who  shows  the  influence  of  Holbein  in  his  life-like  and  very 
expressive  portraits  is  Tobias  Stimmer  (1539-1583)  of  Schaffhausen, 
who  also  worked  for  a  time  in  Strassburg.  In  Basel  Kunst- 
sammlung are  his  interesting  portraits  of  Jacob  Schwitzer  and  his 
wife  Elsbeth,  painted  in  1564. 

In  Bern,  too,  there  was  a  small  but  interesting  school  of  painters 
in  the  closing  years  of  the  XV  and  the  first  half  of  the  XVI  century. 
The  chief  work  of  the  master  who,  from  his  use  of  the  flower 
instead  of  a  monogram,  has  been  named  the  Master  with  the  Carna- 
tion, is  a  series  of  scenes  from  the  Legends  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  in 
Bern  Museum  and  in  Buda-Pesth,  which  present  a  curious  combination 
of  archaic  with  modern,  naturalistic  elements.  The  backgrounds  are 
gold,  but  the  people  are  given  with  considerable  fidelity  to  life.  The 
painter  seems  to  have  taken  delight  in  picturing  the  gorgeously 
robed  king,  the  men,  the  one  blind  woman,  the  elegant  dame  with 
the  lap  dog,  who  are  listening  to  the  preaching  of  St.  John,  and 
especially  the  quaint  little  figure  of  Salome,  with  the  heavy  braids  of 
hair  bound  about  her  head,  dressed  as  a  highly  respectable 
German  girl  of  the  middle  class  and  dancing  a  most  modest 
little  dance  before  an  exceedingly  sedate  king  and  queen,  who  are 
seated  at  their  simple  supper,  their  dog  cracking  bones  on  the  floor 
beside  them.     This  naive  literalness  in  all  his  pictures  makes  them  at 


•■-i*r^^^w^^^s^fvsF^vf!^y€iiaT/!gif  ij.  m 


art  ijijimrwyB 


D\M  PATRl/^^  QVyt!\0  PE^  DOGMATA.  SAN  OTA  vSALVTEM  -^ 

Ingrato  patri/Ig^svs  ab  e:nse  gado  , 


OBIIT  ANo  I)NI.M,DXXXI.bCDOB,X 


Courtesy  of  the  City  Library,  Zurich 


HANS  ASPER 

Portrait  of  Zwixgli 
city  library,  zurich 


GERMAN  SWITZERLAND  135 

least  entertaining.  The  colours  are  bright  with  much  gold,  which  the 
artist  doubtless  believed  would  contribute  elegance  to  his  scenes. 

The  greatest  master  of  the  Swiss  School  was  Nicholas  Manuel 
Deutsch,  who  lived  in  Bern  from  1484  to  1530.  It  is  generally- 
believed  that  his  father  was  an  Italian,  Emmanuel  da  Alemannia, 
and  that  the  name  Deutsch  was  but  a  German  translation  of  the 
Italian  family  name.  That  Nicholas  Manuel  spent  his  Wanderjahre 
in  Italy,  probably  in  Padua,  is  suggested  by  the  wealth  of  Renaissance 
ornament  in  such  an  early  work  as  his  altar  in  Bern  Museum  repre- 
senting the  Birth  of  the  Virgin  and  St.  Luke  Painting  the  Madonna. 
His  work  is  very  unequal  in  quality.  Thus  the  small  picture  of  the 
Beheading  of  John  the  Baptist,  in  Basel  Kunstsammlung,  is  painted 
with  exquisite  fineness  and  care,  while  those  of  the  Virgin  and 
St.  Anne,  St.  James  and  St.  Roch  with  plague-stricken  petitioners 
are  careless  in  execution  and  inharmonious  in  colour.  The  artist 
seems  to  have  taken  special  pleasure  in  painting  allegorical  pictures 
which,  whether  designedly  or  not,  are  very  amusing;  as,  for  example. 
The  "Judgment  of  Paris,"  in  Basel  Kunstsammlung,  in  which  the 
the  hero  is  a  Lanzknecht  whose  decision  the  damsels  await  in  a  most 
entertaining  variety  of  costumes  and  of  humours. 

As  a  fresco-painter  his  chief  work  was  the  "Dance  of  Death'* 
in  forty-six  pictures  painted  between  1517  and  1522  for  the  Dominican 
Monastery  in  Bern,  copies  of  which  are  in  the  Historical  Museum 
there.  They  represent  the  Fall  of  Adam  and  the  consequent  entrance 
of  Death  into  the  world,  Death  approaching  people  of  every  station, 
and  Death  preaching.  Each  group  of  figures  is  placed  in  a  sort  of 
arcade,  through  which  a  glimpse  is  also  given  of  a  landscape  in  the 
background. 

Nicholas  Manuel's  drawings  are  numerous,  and  form  an  interest- 
ing commentary  on  the  life  of  the  time.  In  his  sketchbook,  in  Basel 
Kunsthalle,  we  find  subjects  from  the  Bible,  the  legends  of  the  saints, 
and  the  life  of  the  period,  all  given  with  much  familiarity  and  with 
types  taken  from  his  own  circle  of  acquaintance. 

During  the  last  years  of  his  life  the  artist  devoted  his  time  and 
energy  largely  to  the  cause  of  the  Reformation.  His  portrait  of 
himself  in  Bern  Museum  shows  a  pale,  delicate-looking  man  with 
tired  blue  eyes,  prominent  nose,  finely  cut  lips  and  a  sparse  beard.     A 


136  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

son  of  Nicholas  Manuel  Deutsch,  Hans  Rudolph  Manuel  (Deutsch) 
was  also  an  artist.  From  his  hand  are  many  drawings,  wood  cuts 
and  designs  for  glass  windows,  in  Basel  Kunsthalle. 

The  works  of  the  Zurich  painter  Hans  Leu,  who  fell  in  the 
battle  on  the  Zugerberg  in  1531,  reveal  the  influence  of  Grtinewald  in 
such  measure  that  his  "St.  Jerome"  and  "Cephalus  mourning  over 
Procris,"  in  Basel  Kunstsammlung,  were,  in  the  Amerbach  catalogue, 
ascribed  to  "  Griinewald  or  Leu."  In  both  of  these  pictures  the 
phantastic  lighting  is  the  chief  interest.  In  his  "Orpheus  charming 
Animals  with  his  Music,"  which  is  dated  1519,  the  landscape  and  the 
lighting  also  suggest  the  influence  of  the  master  of  the  Isenheim 
Altar. 

Into  the  second  half  of  the  XVI  century  in  Zurich,  as  late  as 
1571,  worked  Hans  Asper,  who  painted  the  flags  and  coats-of-arms  on 
the  city  gates  and  towers  and  who  held  the  title  of  City  Painter. 
His  fame  to-day  rests  chiefly  on  his  portraits  and  especially  on  those 
of  Zwingli  and  of  Zwingli's  daughter,  painted  in  1549  and  now  in 
Zurich  Library.  That  of  the  great  Swiss  reformer  presents  him 
in  three-quarter  length,  wearing  a  black  robe  and  cap  and  holding  a 
Bible  open  at  the  words  "Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  labor  and  are 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest." 

The  schools  of  art  in  German  Switzerland  were  not  marked  by 
distinct  originality.  They  developed  late  and  entirely  under  the 
influence  of  other  artists  and  schools,  especially  of  Holbein  and  the 
Italians.  No  Swiss  School,  therefore,  ever  attained  a  position  of  first 
importance  or  influence,  except  in  so  far  as  Basel  could  lay  a  certain 
claim  to  Hans  Holbein,  who,  however,  belonged  by  birth  and  training 
to  Augsburg. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

ULM 

THE  STORY-TELLERS  OF  THE  XV  CENTURY 

Hans    Multscher — Hans   Schiihlein — Bartolomni9us    Zeitblom — Hans    Maler 
zu  Schwaz — Martin  Schaffner — Master  of  Sigmaringen. 

TIE  first  of  Ulm's  story-tellers  in  colour,  Hans  Multscher,  is 
realistic  in  a  degree  surprising  for  the  period  in  which  he 
worked.  In  order  to  make  his  scenes  as  vivid  as  possible  he 
pictures  them  with  the  household  equipment  and  costumes  belonging 
to  his  own  day,  and,  in  an  obvious  effort  to  compel  our  attention, 
exaggerates  the  expressions  and  gestures  of  his  people  to  the  point  of 
pantomime.  The  types  he  introduces  in  his  pictures  are  not  always 
attractive  and  are  apt  to  belong  in  a  decidedly  ordinary  and  often- 
times vulgar  social  strata,  while  their  familiar  actions  are  by  no 
means  marked  by  refinement  or  reserve.  The  settings  are  of  the 
simplest,  most  plebeian  kind,  there  is  no  beauty  in  the  very  elemen- 
tal landscapes  with  their  gold  backgrounds,  or  the  inelegant  and  un- 
skilfully rendered  materials  in  the  garments  and  draperies.  But 
there  is  an  attraction  in  the  roominess,  the  fine  feeling  for  space  in 
most  of  the  pictures  and  in  the  colouring,  which,  though  it  cannot  be 
called  really  beautiful  or  particularly  harmonious,  has  its  own  charm 
in  a  certain  silveriness  of  tone  which  is  possibly  due  in  part  to  the 
predominance  in  the  robes  of  pale  blue  with  white  hghts. 

Hans  Multscher  was  born  in  1400  in  Reichenhof  en  near  Leutkirk, 
but  became  a  citizen  of  Ulm  and  received  a  concession  exempting  his 
property  from  taxation  in  1427.  In  1457  he  was  in  Sterzing  in  Tyrol 
where  one  of  his  largest  and  most  important  works  still  remains. 
He  died  about  1467. 

Representative  of  his  style  and  development  are  the  eight 
scenes  from  the  Life  of  Christ,  in  Berlin  Gallery,  from  an  altar- 
piece  painted  in  1437,  and  the  scenes  from  the  Life  of  the  Virgin  on 
the  large  Sterzing  Altar,  painted  twenty  years  later. 

The  Berlin  "Annunciation"  shows  the  Child  in  swaddling  clothes 

137 


138  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

in  a  basket  just  within  a  thatched  shed.  Behind  him  are  ox  and  ass; 
on  the  inside  wall  of  the  shed  are  books,  on  the  outer  wall  bread  and 
a  pitcher  of  wine.  The  Virgin,  of  Swabian  type,  is  kneeling  with 
both  hands  raised  as  if  in  joyous  wonder;  beside  her  is  Joseph,  a 
simple,  kindly  looking  peasant,  who  uses  a  staff  and  whose  hands 
are  encased  in  heavy  gloves  to  protect  them  against  the  cold  of 
the  winter  morning.  Over  a  board  fence  look  all  the  neighbours. 
They  are  very  plain  in  appearance  and  in  dress,  but  their  expres- 
sions reveal  great  interest  in  the  scene  before  them,  at  which  one 
of  the  young  men  of  the  company  is  pointing,  rather  unneces- 
sarily, it  would  seem. 

On  a  hill  to  the  left,  in  a  bit  of  landscape  evidently  set  in  the 
gold  background  for  that  very  purpose,  rude  looking  shepherds  are 
hearing  the  glad  news  from  an  angel;  three  other  angels  of  con- 
siderable beauty  are  singing  on  the  roof  of  the  shed. 

In  the  Passion  scenes  the  Christ  type  is  rather  undersized,  with 
short  chin  and  very  round  eyes;  considerable  stress  is  laid  on  the 
bones  and  muscles,  but  the  forms  under  the  garments  reveal  little 
skill  in  modelling.  The  tormentors  of  the  Holy  One  are  excessively 
vulgar  and  repellent,  several  of  them,  indeed,  with  vacant  eyes  and 
wide,  leering  mouths,  even  idiotic  looking.  Especially  repulsive  are 
the  stunted  children,  who,  in  the  "Bearing  the  Cross,"  throw  stones 
at  the  Christ.  Even  his  own  followers,  John  and  the  mourning 
women,  are  not  marked  by  any  great  delicacy  or  nobility  of  type; 
while  Pilate's  wife  and  her  friend,  in  the  "Christ  before  Pilate," 
have  nothing  of  the  patrician  in  their  appearance  or  bearing. 

Of  greater  refinement  is  the  Christ  type  in  the  "Resurrection," 
which  otherwise  is  pictured  with  singular  helplessness  of  perspective 
and  great  literalness  of  interpretation.'  Out  of  the  sealed  tomb, 
which  is  set  in  curious  fashion  against  the  side  of  a  rock  in  a  fenced 
garden  with  trees,  the  Christ  is  in  the  act  of  rising;  one  leg  has  not 
yet  been  pulled  through  the  stone.  A  red  mantle  is  about  his  shoul- 
ders and  his  right  hand  is  raised  in  blessing.  On  the  ground  the 
guards  are  sleeping;  one  has  half  fallen  over  with  his  back  to  us, 
overcome  by  weariness;  another,  open  mouthed,  leans  on  his  hand  at 
the  end  of  the  tomb,  and  a  very  natural  looking  old  man  with  deep 
wrinkles  across  the  back  of  his  neck — no  guard  surely,  but  a  simple 


Photograph  by  the  Berlin  Photographic  Society 

HANS  MLXTSCHER 

The  Resukhection 
kaiser  friedrich  museum,  berlin 


Photograph  hy  Fried.  Hoefle,  Augsburg 


HANS  SCHUHLEIN 

Scenes  from  the  Passion  of  Christ 
high  altar  in  the  chirch  in  tiefenbronn 


ULM  139 

countryman! — in  citizen's  dress,  sits  on  a  saddle-bag  with  his 
back  to  us,  his  hat  over  his  eyes,  a  veritable  note  of  genre  in  the 
picture. 

A  greater  degree  of  refinement  marks  the  pictures  in  Sterzing. 
The  "Annunciation"  presents,  in  the  interior  of  a  plain  room  with 
square  windows  opening  out  on  a  grove  of  trees  and  a  gold  sky,  an 
attractive  Virgin  with  flowing  hair  and  long,  simply  draped  robes,  to 
whom  the  angel,  who  has  entered  by  the  doorway  into  the  adjoining 
room  to  the  left,  on  lightly  bended  knee,  appears  to  hand  the  scroll 
on  which  his  greeting  is  written.  The  sense  of  space  and  the  sim- 
plicity and  quietness  of  the  scene  are  reposeful  and  beneficent.  The 
"  Nativity,"  in  a  large  wooden  stable,  introduces  the  intimate,  un- 
dignified detail  of  Joseph,  who  has  pulled  off  his  shoes,  proceeding  to 
dry  and  warm  his  feet  while  the  Virgin  kneels  before  the  Babe. 
The  kings  in  the  "Adoration"  are  utterly  unaristocratic  in  appear- 
ance and  manners;  among  the  apostles  in  the  "Death  of  the  Virgin" 
are  some  beautiful  types,  but  they  seem  less  sincere,  more  affected, 
than  the  rude  peasants  and  fishermen  with  whom  they  are 
associated. 

In  the  Passion  scenes,  from  the  backs  of  the  wings  in  Sterzing, 
the  hand  of  a  pupil  under  the  influence  of  the  art  of  the  Netherlands 
is  evident;  occasionally,  however,  a  quite  beautiful  figure  is  intro- 
duced, as  that  of  the  angel  who  presents  the  chalice  to  Christ  in  the 
"Garden  of  Gethsemane." 

From  the  shrine  of  the  Sterzing  Altar  there  remain,  also, 
some  of  the  wood-carved  figures  from  Multscher's  hand,  which  in 
attractiveness  of  types  and  in  the  grace  of  the  draperies,  excel  his 
painted  pictures.  That  the  artist  was  indeed  almost  as  active  in 
wood  carving  as  in  painting  is  evident  from  the  "Triumphal 
Entry"  in  Cloister  Wittenhausen,  the  "Man  of  Sorrows"  in  Schrie- 
sheim,  the  "Virgin  and  Trinity,"  in  Ulm.  Several  figures  of  saints 
and  warriors  bear  witness  that  he  was  also  a  sculptor  in  stone. 

In  Hans  Multscher's  workshop  studied  Hans  Schiihlein — or 
Schlichlein — who  was  born  in  Ulm  about  1440.  A  visit  to  Colmar 
during  his  Wander jahre  left  its  mark  on  his  art  ever  afterward,  for, 
though  its  spirit  always  remained  Swabian,  some  of  his  types  and 
many  of  his  motifs  were  borrowed  from  Schongauer.  From  Colmar 
he  seems  to  have  proceeded  to  Nuremberg,  where  he  made  his  impres- 


140  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

slons  of  Schongauer  felt  in  Wolgemut's  workshop  and  was  himseK  in- 
fluenced, in  turn,  by  the  Nuremberg  master.  After  his  return  to  Ulm 
he  became  a  member  of  St.  Luke's  Guild  in  1493  and  was  appointed, 
in  1497,  chief  architect  of  the  Cathedral,  a  post  which  he  held  until 
1502.     He  died  in  1505. 

Schilhlein's  most  important  work  is  the  High  Altar  painted  in 
1469  for  that  little  memorial  church  of  the  Gemmingen  family  in  the 
village  of  Tiefenbronn,  in  which  is  also  Lucas  Moser's  interesting  St. 
Mary  Magdalen  Altar.  It  is  a  large  and  attractive  carved  Gothic 
altar,  with,  in  the  shrine,  in  wood  carving,  the  Descent  from  the 
Cross,  the  Pieta  and  four  standing  saints,  and  overhead,  the  Crucified 
One  with  the  Virgin  and  St.  John.  On  the  inner  sides  of  the  wings,  set 
also  under  carved  Gothic  arches,  are  painted  Christ  before  Pilate, 
the  Cross  Bearing,  Entombment  and  Resurrection;  on  the  outer  sides, 
the  Annunciation,  Visitation,  Nativity  and  Adoration. 

In  the  four  scenes  from  the  Life  of  the  Virgin  the  types  are 
rather  similar  to  those  in  Multscher's  pictures  on  the  Sterzing  Altar; 
though  not  particularly  elegant  or  patrician  in  appearance  or  dress, 
they  are  not  coarse.  The  background  of  each  scene  is  a  landscape, 
of  which  the  most  individual  and  interesting  is  that  of  the  Visita- 
tion, which  presents,  in  a  rolling  country,  a  high-gabled,  red-roofed, 
German  house,  beside  the  door  of  which  Zachariah  awaits  the 
coming  of  the  two  women.  The  colouring  is  brown  in  tone  and  is 
heavier  than  Hans  Multscher's. 

In  the  scenes  from  the  Passion  the  people  are  of  greater  slender- 
ness  and  delicacy  of  build  and  greater  emotional  sensitiveness. 
Here  and  there  such  types  as  the  Christ  in  the  Cross  Bearing  and 
the  woman  wearing  the  white  headdress,  in  the  group  behind  the 
grave  in  the  Entombment,  recall  Wolgemut,  while  the  motifs  of 
Christ  supporting  his  knee  against  a  stone  and  the  group  of  women 
in  the  middle  distance  in  the  Cross  Bearing  are  taken  direct  from 
Schongauer' s  engraving  of  the  same  subject.  The  actors  in  these 
scenes  wear  more  elegant  garments  than  those  in  the  Life  of  the 
Virgin,  with  a  brown  and  gold  brocade  as  a  favourite  material.  They 
are  restless  and  nervously  tense  in  their  endeavour  to  convey  the 
reality  of  the  tragedy  in  which  they  are  sharers,  but  so  unimposing 
are  they  physically,  so  devoid  of  positive  personaUty,  that  they  fail 


Photograph  by  Fried.  Hoefle,  Augsburg 


BARTOLOMMAUS  ZEITBLOM 

The  Annunciation 

royal  gallery,  stuttgart 


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ULM  141 

to  impress  us  deeply.  They  are  sincere  and  unaffected;  their  emo- 
tions are  real;  but  they  are  excitable  types  who  would  respond  all 
too  readily  to  any  emotional  appeal,  although  by  nature  incapable 
of  great  depth  of  feeling,  of  overwhelming  passion  or  of  profound 
grief. 

Hans  Schiihlein's  most  famous  pupil  was  Bartolommaus  Zeit- 
blom,  who  was  born  in  Nordlingen  about  1450  but  who  later  moved 
to  Ulm,  where  he  married  Schiihlein's  daughter  in  1483  and,  about  the 
same  time,  acquired  citizenship.  In  1487  he  and  his  wife  spent  some 
time  in  Kirchheim,  where  he  suffered  imprisonment  for  giving  food 
and  other  aid  to  the  nuns  of  St.  John  the  Baptist's  Cloister.  In  1499 
his  name  appears  beside  his  father-in-law's  as  Senator  from  the  Guild 
to  the  Council  of  Ulm;  he  died  about  1519. 

Though  the  latest  of  the  fifteenth  century  painters  in  Ulm, 
Zeitblom  was  the  least  affected  by  those  new  ideals  and  developments 
in  art  which  had  their  root  in  the  Netherlands,  which  Multscher  had 
felt  in  some  degree  and  by  which  whatever  individuality  Schtlhlein 
originally  possessed  was  almost  completely  dominated.  So  little, 
indeed,  did  he  heed  them  that  he  seems  at  times  archaic.  It  is  true 
that  the  forms  of  his  people  are  larger  than  the  usual  Swabian  type, 
are  constructed  with  due  regard  to  bone  and  sinew  and  are  quite  well 
modelled.  But  the  backgrounds  of  his  pictures  are,  for  the  most 
part,  gold;  when  the  scene  is  laid  in  the  interior  of  a  room, 
as  in  the  Legends  of  St.  Valentine,  they  are  of  stone  with  no 
outlook.  His  people  wear  garments  so  slightly  draped  that  they 
hang  in  almost  straight  folds,  exceedingly  simple,  though  most  grace- 
ful. Their  faces  are  rather  long  and  finely  oval,  with  delicate  fea- 
tures; their  blonde  hair  is  apt  to  be  worn  perfectly  straight  or  with 
but  the  faintest  wave;  their  attitudes  are  remarkably  quiet,  their 
expressions  calm.  Sometimes,  as  in  the  Annunciation  painted  for 
the  church  in  Heerberg  and  now  in  Stuttgart  Gallery,  the  beauty  of 
the  Virgin  and  the  angel,  the  graceful  simplicity  of  their  robes,  the 
quiet  distinction  of  their  bearing  creates  an  atmosphere  of  still  so- 
lemnity which  envelops  the  spectator  also  and  communicates  to  him 
something  of  its  exaltation.  In  the  "  Vera  Icon,"  in  Berlin  Gallery, 
from  the  predella  of  the  altar  painted  for  the  Parish  Church  in 
Eschach  in  1495,  the  grace  and  restraint  of  the  sorrowing  angels 


142  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

and  the  lovely  lines  of  the  drapery  call  to  mind  the  Italian  painter 
Francia. 

But  when  we  turn  to  his  more  impassioned  scenes,  as  those  from 
the  Life  of  St.  Valentine,  in  Augsburg  Gallery,  or  those  from  the  Life 
of  St.  John  the  Baptist  and  from  the  Life  and  Passion  of  Christ,  on 
the  High  Altar  of  the  church  in  the  picturesque  little  village  of  Blau- 
beuren  in  the  Swabian  Hills,  those  characteristics  which,  in  quietly 
sentimental  scenes  or  in,  for  example,  the  standing  figures  of  St. 
Martha  and  St.  Ursula  in  Munich  Pinakothek,  appear  to  indicate  a 
noble,  aristocratic  calm,  suddenly  seem  to  be  nothing  more  than 
stijffness  and  woodenness.  In  the  most  animated  or  tragic  scenes 
his  people  remain  unmoved,  almost  expressionless;  they  are  utterly 
powerless  to  convey  the  significance  of  the  representation.  In  the 
presence  of  such  pictures  we  cannot  but  suspect  that  his  stately 
forms  with  their  remarkable  restraint  and  stillness  reveal  a  certain 
emptiness  of  mind  and  heart  and  imagination  and  that  his  conser- 
vatism conceals  a  lack  of  power.  Yet  we  do  not  forget  that  a  few 
of  the  pictures  he  has  given  us  are  lovely  enough  to  be  treasured 
without  question,  simply  for  the  pleasure  their  beauty  brings. 

A  pupil  of  Zeitblom  was  Hans  von  Ulm,  who  removed  from  there 
to  the  rich  mining  town  of  Schwaz,  near  Innsbruck,  and  who  is, 
therefore,  generally  spoken  of  as  Hans  Maler  zu  Schwaz.  He  won 
such  fame  as  a  portrait  painter  that  many  commissions  came  to 
him  from  the  patrician  families  of  Innsbruck  and  Vienna.  Indeed, 
before  his  proper  name  was  discovered  he  was  called,  from  several 
portraits  of  members  of  the  Welzer  family,  which  are  now  in 
Vienna  Gallery,  "The  Master  of  the  Welzer  Portraits."  He  won 
the  favour  of  Ferdinand  of  Hapsburg,  whose  portrait  he  painted, 
and  by  whom  he  was  commissioned  to  copy  earlier  portraits  of  the 
Emperor  Maximilian  and  Maria  of  Burgundy. 

He  does  not  seek  to  reveal  the  character  or  personality  of  a 
subject,  but  gives  a  quite  literal  record  of  the  external  appear- 
ance. Such  a  portrait  as  that  of  Ulrich  Fugger,  of  the  famous 
Augsburg  family  of  bankers,  which  was  painted  in  1525  and 
which  is  now  in  the  Alt  man  Collection,  in  the  Metropolitan 
Museum,  New  York,  reveals  all  the  artist's  peculiarities.  Like 
almost    all   pictures   painted   by   him,   it   is   a   bust  portrait,    in 


Courtesy  of  the  Altman  Gallery 

HANS  MALER 

Portrait  of  Count  Ulkich  Fugger  of  Augsburg 
metropolitan  museum  of  art,  new  york 


Photograph  by  Franz  Hanfstaengl 

MARTIN  SCHAFFNER 

Annunciation 
alte  pinakothek,  munich 


ULM  143 

which  the  sitter  is  seen  three-quarters  to  the  left.  It  presents 
the  banker  at  thirty-five  years  of  age,  against  a  Hght  blue  back- 
ground, and  wearing  a  black  coat,  white  collar  open  in  front  and 
a  brown  skull-cap.  No  great  amount  of  attention  is  bestowed 
upon  the  details.  A  suggestion  of  the  influence  of  Bernhard 
Strigel,  the  painter's  fellow-pupil  in  Zeitblom's  workshop,  is  felt 
in  the  picture,  especially  in  the  flesh  tones,  which  are  light,  yel- 
lowish and  waxy.  The  artist  has  a  peculiar  trick  of  setting  the 
eyes  slanting.  He  paints  the  hair  of  head  and  beard  with  con- 
siderable minuteness.  The  drawing  is  old-fashioned  but  assured 
and  marked  by  a  fine  sweep  of  line. 

In  the  works  of  Martin  Schaffner,  who  was  born  in  Ulm  about 
1480  and  who  worked  there  until  almost  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  Italian  influence  is  very  pronounced.  His  altar-pieces  are 
of  remarkably  large  dimensions  and  permit  of  his  presenting  his 
scenes  on  a  much  bigger  scale  than  is  usual  with  his  contemporaries. 
To  his  earliest  period  belongs  the  altar  in  Sigmaringen  Gallery  repre- 
senting five  scenes  from  the  Life  of  Christ,  in  which  the  plain  people 
with  their  rather  expressionless  features  are  less  interesting  than 
the  materials  in  the  garments,  especially  the  velvets  and  furs,  which 
are  very  beautifully  painted. 

Schaffner's  greatest  work  is  the  High  Altar  in  Ulm  Cathedral, 
which  was  painted  in  1520.  The  shrine  is  filled  with  wood  carving;  on 
the  wings  are  the  Holy  Kinship  and  on  the  outer  sides  Saints  Erhard, 
John  the  Baptist,  Barbara  and  Dieppold.  To  the  left  are  the 
Virgin  and  Child  with  the  small  St.  John,  who,  in  form  and  in  his 
little  gauze  drapery,  resembles  a  Donatello  yutto;  through  a  window 
behind  the  Virgin  there  looks  in  upon  the  group  a  man  with  long 
white  hair  and  a  cape  of  grey  fur,  who  is  so  individual,  even  peculiar 
looking,  that  he  must  have  been  portrayed  direct  from  life.  To 
the  right  are  Alpheus,  a  rather  pompous  gentleman,  his  wife,  who  is 
nursing  her  babe,  and  three  other  sturdy  children.  In  the  back- 
ground stretches  a  wide  landscape. 

Very  imposing,  doubtless  in  part  because  of  their  unusually 
large  dimensions,  are  the  four  wings  of  the  High  Altar  from  Cloister 
Wettenhausen,  near  Ulm,  which  were  painted  in  1523  and  1524  and 
are  now  in  Munich  Pinakothek.    The  first  scene,  the  Annunciation, 


144  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

takes  place  in  an  ornate  Renaissance  room,  in  the  decoration  of  which 
there  are  still  some  Gothic  details.  The  Virgin,  whose  long  reddish- 
brown  hair  falls  about  her  shoulders,  and  whose  very  full  draperies 
are  spread  in  many  folds,  kneels  to  receive  the  large  angel  who  enters 
through  the  portico  to  the  left.  In  the  sky  overhead,  in  a  conven- 
tionahsed,  coloured  cloud,  is  God  the  Father,  from  whom,  in  a  ray  of 
light,  proceed  the  Dove  and  the  Child.  Behind  a  curtain  another 
room  opens  where  a  small  angel  is  smoothing  the  pillows  of  a  great, 
canopied  bed.  Nor  are  the  possibilities  of  perspective  yet  exhausted. 
Another  room  opens  in  the  rear  of  that  one,  and  to  the  left,  at  the 
door  of  a  house  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  Elizabeth  is  seen 
welcoming  Mary,  who  has  come  to  visit  her. 

In  the  next  scene,  the  Presentation  in  the  Temple,  we  look  into 
the  interior  of  a  great  Renaissance  church.  On  the  altar  are  a  shrine 
and  two  tall  candle  sticks;  from  behind  it  several  priests  are  advanc- 
ing bearing  other  candlesticks;  from  a  balcony  overhead  two  people 
look  down  upon  the  scene  which  is  transpiring  in  the  foreground, 
where  the  gorgeously  robed  High  Priest  holds  the  Child,  the  Virgin 
makes  the  offering  of  the  doves,  two  women  kneel  on  the  mosaic 
floor  and  others  of  the  company  are  entering  between  the  marble 
columns.  Through  the  door  we  catch  a  glimpse  of  a  landscape  with 
a  stately  tree  and  a  castle  tower  as  its  most  prominent  features. 
The  people  in  these  two  pictures  are  all  large  and  dignified 
with  quite  regular  features  and  very  full  robes.  Their  expression 
is,  however,  so  lacking  in  animation  that  they  appear  stolid  and 
unresponsive. 

In  the  third  scene,  the  Descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  this  lack  is 
still  more  evident.  The  apostles  stand  open-mouthed  but  they  are 
inwardly  unmoved;  the  perspective  in  the  scene  and  the  view  into 
the  street  along  which  people  are  walking  were  manifestly  of  as  much 
importance  to  the  artist  as  the  miracle. 

The  reahsation  of  the  grief  of  these  same  disciples,  in  the  Death 
of  the  Virgin,  is  also  beyond  the  artist's  powers.  According  to 
Swabian  tradition,  the  dying  Virgin  is  kneeling,  supported  by  an 
apostle.  All  the  accessories  are  given  interestingly  enough,  but 
genuine,  convincing  emotion  is  lacking.  The  colouring  in  all  these 
pictures  is  a  warm  golden  brown  in  tone  and  so  perfectly  are  all  the 


ULM  145 

local  colours  blended  into  this  tone  that  it  requires  attention  to  dis- 
tinguish them. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  artist's  works  is  a  portrait  in 
the  sacristy  of  Ulm  Cathedral,  dated  1516,  which  presents,  in  half 
length,  against  a  green  and  gold  brocaded  background,  the  burgo- 
master of  the  city,  Eitel  Besserer,  an  imposing  looking  man  with 
penetrating  blue  eyes  and  a  full  grey  beard,  who  wears  a  cap  and  wide 
collar  of  fur.  The  brocade,  the  fur,  the  hair  of  the  beard  and  the  fine 
texture  of  the  skin  are  so  remarkably  rendered,  the  head  is  so  finely 
rounded  and  the  expression  so  keen  and  lifelike  that  the  portrait  is 
one  of  rare  beauty. 

An  anonymous  painter  who  worked  in  the  opening  years  of  the 
XVI  century  has  been  named  from  his  works  in  the  Gallery  of  Prince 
Hohenzollern's  Castle  in  that  place,  the  Master  of  Sigmaringen.  The 
largest  number  of  pictures  from  his  hand  are,  however,  in  the  neigh- 
bouring Donaueschingen,  at  the  source  of  the  Danube.  Among 
them  are  ten  panels  which  have  a  curious  history.  A  peasant  in 
the  Black  Forest  became  very  ill  and  called  Dr.  Rehmann  from  the 
nearest  town,  Donaueschingen.  The  physician  was  greatly  struck 
by  the  remarkable  bed  on  which  his  patient  was  lying,  on  every 
board  of  which  were  painted  dingy,  old,  religious  scenes  or  figures 
of  saints.  When  the  peasant  recovered,  the  doctor  asked,  in  lieu 
of  fee,  that  he  might  be  given  the  bed.  On  examination,  it  was 
found  that  it  was  built  of  the  panels  of  a  large  altar  by  the 
Master  of  Sigmaringen,  and  that  there  were  represented  on  them 
various  scenes  from  the  Life  of  the  Virgin,  and  the  standing  figures 
of  Saints  Florian,  George,  Joachim,  Martin,  Sebastian,  and  other 
saints.  Dr.  Rehmann  caused  the  various  panels  to  be  restored  to 
their  original  estate  and,  at  his  death,  bequeathed  them  to  Prince 
Furstenberg  for  Donaueschingen  Gallery. 

Like  all  the  works  of  the  Master  of  Sigmaringen,  these  reveal  in 
a  marked  degree  the  influence  of  the  art  of  the  Netherlands  or  of 
a  conception  of  it  which  the  artist  derived  from  the  paintings  of 
such  a  Swabian  painter  as  Friedrich  Herlin  who  was  then  work- 
ing in  the  neighbouring  town  of  Nordlingen.  The  people  are  tall 
and  strongly  built,  with  prominent  cheek-bones  and  red  cheeks, 
low   foreheads,  large,  round  eyes   and  heavy  hair   which,  on    the 


146  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

men,  is  almost  always  slightly  dishevelled.  Their  fingers  curve 
pronouncedly  and  sometimes  rather  affectedly,  their  feet  are 
strangely  shaped,  with  thick  balls,  and  straight  toes  set  very 
close  together.  The  colours  are  bright  and  not  very  happily 
blended.  There  is,  indeed,  little  that  is  pleasing  about  this  master's 
large,  plain  people  who  lack  refinement  and  who  possess  no  attrac- 
tions except  strength,  who  are  seldom  represented  as  active  about 
anything  or  even  as  greatly  interested  in  anything  in  particular, 
and  who  are  given  without  any  especial  beauty  of  accessories  or 
of  colouring.  In  almost  all  his  pictures  the  painter  retains  the 
archaic  gold  background  and  with  it,  sometimes,  as  in  the  Don- 
aueschingen  "Presentation  of  the  little  Virgin  in  the  Temple,"  a 
naive  frankness  of  faith  which  invests  the  picture  with  a  certain 
charm. 


CHAPTER  XX 
SWABIA 

THE  ARTISTIC  DEPEND ANCIES  OF  ULM 

NoRDLiNGEN :      Fricdrich  Herlin — Sebastian  Deig. 
Rothenburg:  Martin  Schwarz. 
Memmingen:    Bernhard  Strigel. 

TO  Ulm  Nordlingen  may  be  said  to  owe  her  share  in  the  art 
Ufe  of  the  German  Renaissance,  for  from  Ulm  there  came  to 
NordHngen  the  painter  Friedrich  Herhn.  It  would  appear 
that  he  did  not  come  directly,  however,  but  made  a  stay  of  some 
length  in  Rothenburg,  as,  in  the  document  conferring  citizenship  in 
NordUngen  upon  him  in  1467,  he  is  named  "  Master  Friedrich  Herlin 
of  Rothenburg." 

The  earliest  notice  of  the  painter,  in  the  records  of  Ulm,  is  dated 
1449;  the  latest,  in  Nordlingen,  1499.  His  earliest  dated  work  is 
the  High  Altar  for  St.  George's  Church  in  Nordlingen,  which  was 
begun  in  1462.  Only  the  pictures  on  the  back  of  the  shrine,  repre- 
senting scenes  from  the  Passion,  are  still  in  the  church;  the  rest  of  the 
altar,  separated  into  its  several  pictures,  has  been  removed  to  the 
Municipal  Museum,  The  inner  sides  of  the  wings  present  six  scenes 
from  the  Childhood  of  Christ,  the  outer  sides,  three  scenes  from  the 
Legend  of  St.  George,  two  from  the  Legend  of  St.  Mary  Magdalen, 
with  St.  Dorothea,  St.  Barbara  and  the  family  of  the  donor,  Jacob 
Fuchshart. 

Tradition  has  it  that  Herlin  was  invited  to  Nordlingen  because 
"he  knew  how  to  paint  in  the  fashion  of  the  artists  of  the  Nether- 
lands" and,  in  truth,  the  most  casual  glance  at  this  altar  will  reveal 
that  there  was  no  artist  of  the  second  half  of  the  XV  century  who  was 
more  completely  dominated  by  their  influence.  The  work  is  done 
with  great  care;  the  street,  the  architectural  features,  the  interiors, 
the  still-Hfe  are  all  given  in  the  perspective  and  with  the  minute 
detail  of  the  school  of  the  Van  Eycks.  The  materials  are  finely 
realised;  the  robes  of  the  saints  have  the  texture  and  lustre  of  real 

147 


148  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

velvets,  silks  and  brocades.  The  colouring  is  also  that  of  the 
Flemish  painters,  deep  and  strong,  occasionally,  to  the  point  of 
heaviness;  the  light  is  the  full  light  of  day.  The  spirit  of  the 
scenes  is  matter  of  fact;  imagination,  and  even  play  of  fancy  are 
altogether  lacking. 

Very  similar  in  subject  and  in  treatment  are  the  scenes  from  the 
Childhood  of  Christ  on  the  inner  sides  of  the  wings  of  the  High  Altar 
in  St.  Jacob's  Church,  Rothenburg,  which  were  painted  in  1466. 
The  outer  sides  of  the  wings  have  been  entirely  painted  over.  Four 
of  the  same  scenes,  the  Annunciation,  Nativity,  Adoration  and  Pre- 
sentation, are  pictured  again  in  the  wings  of  the  altar  in  St.  George's 
Church  in  Dinkelsbiihl,  which  was  painted  about  the  same  time,  or 
in  1467. 

The  next  year,  1468,  he  painted  the  "  Man  of  Sorrows,"  now  in 
Nordhngen  Museum,  which  exceeds  in  realism  even  the  Passion 
scenes  on  the  back  of  the  High  Altar  in  St.  George's.  The  Christ 
is  commonplace  and  unimpressive,  but  the  representation  possesses 
a  vigour  which  amounts  almost  to  violence. 

Herlin  seems  to  have  been  held  in  high  repute  throughout  all 
the  country  round  about  Nordlingen  and  many  of  the  larger  parish 
churches  contain  works  from  his  hand.  Not  only  did  he  do  impor- 
tant altar-pieces  for  Rothenburg  and  Dinkelsbiihl,  but  also  for  the 
neighbouring  village  of  Bopfingen,  where  the  Nativity  and  Ador- 
ation, on  the  inner  sides  of  the  wings  of  the  High  Altar  in  St. 
Blasius's  Church,  are  among  his  most  attractive  works.  The 
types  are,  as  always,  those  of  the  painters  of  the  Netherlands,  the 
poses  are  often  artificial,  but  the  drawing  is  less  sharp  than  in 
his  earlier  works,  the  forms  are  less  angular  and  muscular,  the 
faces  softer  in  contour  and  the  colours,  though  still  dark,  are 
glowing.  The  scenes  from  the  Legend  of  St.  Blasius,  on  the 
outer  sides  of  the  wings,  are  the  work  of  a  pupil  and  are  quite 
inferior. 

The  artist's  masterpiece  is  the  great  altar  in  Nordlingen 
Museum  which  was  painted  in  1488  and  represents  the  Madonna 
and  Child  with  St.  Luke,  St.  Margaret  and  donors.  The  Virgin, 
who  is  enthroned  against  a  background  of  brown,  brocaded  tap- 
estry, held  by  white-robed  angels,  is  of  the  same  type  as  in  Hans 


Photograph  by  Franz  Hanfstaengl 

BERNHARD  STRIGEL 

Portrait  of  Emperor  Maximilian 
royal  gallery,  augsburg 


SWABIA  149 

Memllng's  pictures;  she  wears  a  long,  red  robe  with  lining  of 
green,  and  on  her  head  a  jewelled  diadem.  The  Child  is  reaching 
out  for  the  book  held  by  St.  Luke,  who  is  recommending  for  special 
grace  a  kneeling  donor  and  his  four  sons.  On  the  other  side  St. 
Margaret  performs  the  same  mediatory  office  for  the  donor's  wife 
and  five  daughters,  who  kneel  stiffly  in  their  modish  costumes, 
their  fair,  reddish  hair  in  heavy  braids.  The  symbols  of  the  saints, 
in  miniature,  are  placed  on  the  back  of  the  throne;  in  the  back- 
ground is  a  city  street.  A  personal  interest  attaches  to  this 
picture,  as  the  donors  are  doubtless  the  painter  himself  and  his 
family,  for  whom,  naturally,  St.  Luke  the  painter-apostle  would 
intercede.  The  wings  of  the  altar  contain  the  Holy  Night,  and 
Christ  disputing  with  the  Lawyers  in  the  Temple;  in  these  the 
people  are  very  plain  and  the  colouring  is  heavy. 

There  was,  perhaps,  no  German  artist  of  the  second  half  of  the 
XV  century,  when  all  German  artists  were  influenced  in  some  degree 
by  the  art  of  the  Netherlands,  who  yielded  to  that  influence  so  ab- 
solutely as  did  Friedrich  Herlin.  But  though  he  adopts  Memling's 
types,  he  seldom  fails  to  make  them  plain,  ordinary  in  appearance 
and  mental  equipment  and  unattractive  in  expression;  and  though  he 
renders  materials  with  much  naturalness  he  rarely  succeeds  in  call- 
ing forth  our  admiration  for  their  beauty,  because  his  colouring  is 
so  dark  and  heavy. 

A  painter  who  worked  in  NordHngen  as  late  as  1575  was  Sebas- 
tian Deig  (Daig  or  Teig)  who  was  a  pupil  of  Schaufelein  during  his 
residence  in  NordHngen  from  1515  to  1540,  but  who  turned  away  from 
his  master's  ideal  of  beauty  to  fall  into  crude  and  sometimes  vulgar 
realism.  The  many  pictures  from  his  hand  in  Nordlingen  Museum 
possess  nothing  that  appeals  to  the  lover  of  art;  the  types  are  plain, 
the  colouring  brown  and  heavy,  the  interpretation  ordinary  and  un- 
inspired. His  most  interesting  work  is  an  altar  in  St.  George's 
Church,  Dinkelsbuhl,  which  sets  forth,  in  small  scenes,  the  Martyrdom 
of  the  Saints.  In  these  there  are  almost  n6  suggestions  of  the  revolt- 
ing realism  of  his  later  works.  The  people  are,  for  the  most  part, 
very  youthful  and  their  expressions  childlike;  the  costumes  are  a 
complete  commentary  on  the  fashions  of  the  age.  Any  attractive- 
ness these  pictures  might  possess  is  seriously  detracted  from,  however, 
by  the  dulness  and  lifelessness  of  their  colouring. 


150  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

Besides  the  visiting  artist  Friedrich  Herlin,  Rothenburg  pos- 
sessed a  painter  all  her  own,  Martin  Schwarz,  who  is  known  to  have 
been  hving  there  in  1480.  Judging  by  his  types  and  his  manner  of 
presenting  his  subjects,  he  received  his  training  in  the  School  of  Ulm. 
Of  his  few  remaining  works,  the  most  interesting  are  the  four  wings 
of  an  altar  in  the  Germanic  Museum,  Nuremberg,  which  present,  on 
the  outer  sides,  the  Annunciation,  Holy  Night,  Adoration  of  the 
Kings,  and  Death  of  the  Virgin;  on  the  inner  sides,  four  scenes  from 
the  Passion.  The  stories  are  told  simply  and  delightfully;  the  people 
are  refined  and  very  attractive.  The  Annunciation,  for  example, 
shows,  against  a  gold  groimd,  a  very  youthful  Virgin,  seated  in 
an  elaborately  carved  chair,  addressed  by  a  graceful  angel  with 
ringleted  hair.  The  many  details  which  are  introduced,  as  the 
chair  and  book-rest,  slippers  and  flowers,  are  given  with  loving 
exactness. 

On  the  other  hand,  such  scenes  as  the  death  of  the  Virgin  or 
those  from  the  Passion  are  quite  beyond  the  artist's  abihty;  he  does 
not  possess  the  dramatic  power  to  make  them  impressive.  His  gift 
is  for  telling  cheerful  stories  about  attractive  people,  with  naive 
faithfulness  to  detail  and  unfailing  charm  of  manner. 

In  the  neighbouring  town  of  Memmingen,  too,  art  in  its  devel- 
opment was  influenced  by  the  School  of  Ulm.  The  artists  there  all 
belonged  to  one  family,  the  Strigels.  The  oldest  member  of  it, 
Johann  Strigel,  is  mentioned  in  1433  as  "painter,  of  Memmingen." 
In  1442  he  painted  the  altar  for  the  church  in  Zell,  representing  the 
Virgin  adoring  the  Christ  Child,  and  Saints.  Four  panels  which 
were  also,  probably,  at  one  time  in  that  church  were  discovered  a  few 
years  ago  in  the  house  of  a  peasant  in  the  neighbourhood,  by  an  artist 
who  was  painting  there,  and  were  sold  to  the  National  Museum  in 
Munich.  On  each  panel  are  two  saints,  tall  and  slender  and  very 
fair,  with  round,  childish  faces  and  blond  hair.  The  female  saints 
wear  white  veils  and  very  curious,  small,  round,  blue  caps;  their 
robes  hang  in  parallel  folds  and  their  mantles  are  draped  to  fall  in  set 
ripples  which  show  the  contrasting  colour  of  the  lining.  The  favourite 
colours  are  deep,  bright  blue,  red,  yellow  and  white. 

A  son  of  Johann  Strigel  was  Ivo  Strigel,  whose  chief  authentic 


SWABIA  151 

work  is  an  altar  in  Basel  Historical  Museum  with  saints,  evangelists 
and  the  Archangel  Michael,  who  holds  a  parchment  scroll  on  which  is 
written  "Ivo  Strigel,  1512." 

A  Klaus  Strigel  painted  on  two  wings  of  an  altar  in  the  Lieb- 
frauenkirche  in  Munich,  the  saints  Urban  and  Achatius.  The  figures 
are  undersized;  the  colouring  is  cool  Hke  Zeitblom's  but  the  garments 
are  less  simply  and  beautifully  draped. 

By  far  the  greatest  artist  of  them  all  was  Bernhard  Strigel,  who 
was  born  in  Memmingen  about  1461  and  died  in  1528.  About  1480 
he  went  to  Ulm  to  study  with  Zeitblom;  in  1506  he  was  established 
in  Memmingen  and  shortly  became  so  famous  that  he  was  appointed 
court  painter  to  the  Emperor  Maximilian,  in  whose  service  he 
visited  Augsburg,  Innsbruck  and  Vienna. 

A  characteristic  altar-piece  is  the  one  in  Berlin  Gallery  which 
was  painted  in  1515  and  contains  four  scenes  from  the  Life  of  the 
Virgin — the  Birth,  Presentation,  Visitation,  and  Death.  The  people 
portrayed  in  these  scenes  are  natural  and  spontaneous  in  their 
attitudes  and  movements,  though  seldom  endowed  with  either 
beauty  or  distinction.  All  the  legendary  happenings  are  interpreted 
in  terms  of  everyday  life  and  with  considerable  detail,  so  that  the 
pictures  are  interesting,  from  the  standpoint  of  the  history  of  cul- 
ture, as  faithful  reflections  of  domestic  life  in  Germany  in  the  latter 
half  of  the  XV  century. 

But  Bernhard  Strigel' s  fame  rests  rather  on  his  skill  as  a  por- 
traitist than  as  a  painter  of  altar-pieces.  As  court  painter,  he  natur- 
ally did  several  portraits  of  the  Emperor.  There  are  his  portraits 
of  Maximihan  as  a  young  man,  in  Vienna,  Strassburg  and  Munich; 
a  portrait  in  more  mature  years,  in  Vienna,  where  is  also  a  family 
group  consisting  of  the  Emperor,  his  wife,  Maria  of  Burgundy,  his 
son  Philip  and  his  grandsons  Ferdinand  I,  Charles  V,  and  Ludwig  II 
of  Hungary.  On  account  of  their  refined  yet  broad  treatment,  and 
their  beautiful,  harmonious  colouring,  some  of  the  best  of  Strigel's 
portraits,  as  that  of  Count  John  II  of  Montfort,  in  Donaueschingen 
Gallery,  and  the  group  of  Conrad  Relinger,  Patrician  of  Augsburg, 
and  his  eight  children,  in  Munich  Pinakothek,  were  long  attributed  to 
Holbein. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

AUGSBURG 

HANS  HOLBEIN  THE  ELDER 

THE  rich  city  of  Augsburg  was  not  only  the  most  important 
art  centre  in  Swabia  but  was,  in  all  Germany,  second  only  to 
Nuremberg  in  its  artistic  fame  and  influence.  Apparently  art 
did  not,  however,  develop  so  early  there  as  in  Cologne  or  Nuremberg, 
for  no  works  remain  to  us  from  the  fourteenth  or  even  from  the  first 
half  of  the  fifteenth  century.  To  the  second  half  of  the  fifteenth 
century  belongs  the  painted  ceiling  which  was  taken  from  the  guild 
room  of  the  Weaver's  House  and  is  now  in  the  National  Museum. 
Munich.     It  is  signed  with  a  jingle: 

"In  fourteen  fifty-seven  it  came, 
Peter  Kaltenhof  was  the  name 
Of  the  man  who  painted  the  same." 

The  ceiling  is  divided  into  narrow  sections  in  which  Bible  scenes 
are  pictured,  with  explanatory  inscriptions.  The  figures  are  small 
and  crowded  and  the  effect  of  the  whole  is  not  particularly  deco- 
rative. It  has  been  twice  painted  over;  in  1538,  by  Jorg  Breu 
and  again,  in  1601,  by  Johann  Herzog,  but  can  hardly  have  been 
of  much  artistic  worth  at  any  time. 

The  first  great  master  of  painting  in  Augsburg  was  Hans  Holbein 
the  Elder,  who  was  born  about  1460  and  whose  name  appears  on  the 
list  of  painters  for  the  last  time  in  1524.  It  is  probable  that  he  came, 
first  of  all,  under  the  influence  of  Bartholme  Zeitblom  of  Ulm  and 
then  of  Italian,  particularly  of  Venetian,  painters.  Whether  or  not 
Holbein  the  Elder  ever  visited  Venice  we  do  not  know,  but  there 
seems  to  be  no  reason  why  he  should  not  have  done  so,  as  Augsburg, 
with  the  princely  Fugger  family  at  its  head,  was  always  in  close 
intercourse  with  Italy,  and  a  journey  to  the  city  which  was  the  goal 
of  all  the  German  artists  of  the  sixteenth  century  would  not  seem  a 
very  formidable  undertaking.  Venetian  influence  on  Holbein  the 
Elder's  works  is  to  be  observed,  in  the  main,  in  the  simplifying  of 

152 


HANS  HOLBEIN  THE  ELDER  153 

the  composition  of  his  pictures,  and  the  developing  of  his  natural 
Swabian  gift  for  colour. 

The  artist's  earliest  known  work  is  the  altar-piece  which  was 
painted  in  1493  for  Weingarten  Abbey  and  which  is  now  in  Augsburg 
Cathedral  in  four  sections  which  present  "Joachim's  Sacrifice," 
with,  in  the  background,  "Joachim  Among  the  Shepherds;"  the 
"Birth  of  the  Virgin,"  with  the  "Meeting  at  the  Golden  Gate;" 
the  "Presentation  of  the  Virgin  in  the  Temple,"'  with  the  "Visita- 
tion" and  the  "Presentation  of  Christ  in  the  Temple,"  and,  in  the 
sky  above,  the  "Coronation  of  the  Virgin  by  the  Father  and  the 
Son,"  symbolised  by  two  quite  youthful  men,  exactly  aUke.  The 
details  in  these  pictures  are  recorded  with  great  faithfulness.  The 
animation  of  the  little  dog  in  the  scene  in  which  the  shepherds  wel- 
come Joachim,  the  eagerness  of  the  woman  in  the  very  up-to-date 
costume  who  is  hurriedly  testing  with  her  foot  the  heat  of  the  water 
in  the  bath  she  is  preparing  for  the  new-born  Virgin  Mary,  are  given 
as  if  the  painter  himself  took  pleasure  in  the  air  of  intimacy  which 
their  introduction  imparts  to  the  scenes.  But  this  familiarity  is 
saved  from  becoming  matter-of-fact  or  vulgar  by  the  loveliness  of 
the  slender,  innocent  women  who  move  with  such  unconscious 
grace,  and  by  the  refinement  and  harmony  of  the  colouring. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  works  from  the  closing  years  of  the 
century  is  the  "Madonna  and  Child,"  dated  1499,  which  is  now  in 
the  Germanic  Museum,  Nuremberg.  It  presents  the  Virgin  in  a 
Gothic  architectural  setting,  enthroned  and  holding  in  her  arms 
the  beautiful  Babe,  to  whom  two  blue-robed  angels  are  offering 
flowers.  The  people  are  lovely  in  face  and  form,  and  simple, 
artless  and  tender  in  manner.  The  angels  with  their  rather  long, 
narrow  faces  and  straight  hair  and  their  garments  falling  in  such 
graceful  folds  are  reminiscent  of  Zeitblom.  The  colouring  is  soft  and 
harmonious,  though  a  curious  redness  of  the  flesh  tones  is  noticeable 
in  this  as  in  most  of  the  master's  early  works. 

After  the  rebuilding,  in  1496,  of  St.  Catherine's  Cloister,  Augs- 
burg, the  artist  received  from  its  nuns  a  curious  and  interesting 
commission.  These  nuns  had,  in  1484,  received  a  special  dispensa- 
tion of  grace  from  Pope  Innocent  VIII,  promising  that  if  they 
would  worship  in  three  different  parts  of  their  cloister  with  the 


154  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

same  passion  of  meditation  and  prayer  they  would  expend  if  they 
made  a  pilgrimage  to  the  seven  great  churches  of  Rome,  they 
should  receive  the  same  indulgence.  To  make  the  pilgrimage  seem 
almost  real  and  to  arouse  in  themselves  a  greater  degree  of  pious 
enthusiasm,  the  nuns  desired  to  have  painted,  in  those  chosen  parts 
of  their  cloister,  pictures  of  the  principal  churches  of  Rome, 
together  with  scenes  from  the  legends  of  their  titular  saints.  To 
Holbein  was  given  the  commission  to  paint  the  first  of  these  basilica 
pictures,  that  of  "Santa  Maria  Maggiore."  He  divided  the  space 
within  the  Gothic  arch  into  three  fields,  by  means  of  slender 
wooden  columns,  so  that  the  appearance  of  the  whole  is  similar  to 
that  of  a  large  triptych.  Following  still  further  the  plan  of  an 
altar-piece,  he  filled  the  upper  part  of  the  arch  with  a  gilded 
Gothic  tracery  Hke  a  vine  with  curling  leaves,  a  decoration  which, 
it  is  true,  engrosses  too  large  a  place  in  the  pictures  and  proves 
distracting.  In  the  apex  of  the  arch,  framed  by  the  tracery,  is 
represented  the  Coronation  of  the  Virgin,  a  youthful,  beautiful  woman 
on  whose  head  a  crown  is  being  placed  by  the  Trinity,  symbolised, 
in  mediaeval  fashion,  by  three  men  who  look  exactly  alike.  About 
this  group  hover  angels  who  fill  the  air  with  the  music  of  instru- 
ments and  joyous  singing. 

The  middle  section  contains  the  main  subject,  the  basihca  of 
Santa  Maria  Maggiore,  which  bears  no  resemblance  to  the  church  in 
Rome,  but  is  a  very  simple,  small  chapel.  On  its  bell  the  artist  has 
signed  his  name.  On  the  left  is  the  Virgin  adoring  the  Child;  on  the 
right  the  most  attractive  scene  of  all,  the  Martyrdom  of  St.  Dorothea, 
introduced  as  a  memorial  to  the  donor,  Dorothea  Rolinger,  who, 
in  nun's  dress,  kneels  in  the  right-hand  corner  of  the  picture.  In 
the  centre  of  it,  the  slender,  girlish  saint  is  again  pictured  with  long 
fair  hair  falling  about  her  shoulders,  wearing  a  brocaded  dress  and 
a  mantle  of  plain  stuff,  a  large  crown  and  a  halo,  as  she  kneels 
with  folded  hands  to  receive  the  sword  stroke  which  the  evil-looking 
executioner  behind  her  is  preparing  to  deal  with  great  force.  She 
has,  however,  forgotten  all  about  him  in  her  absorption  in  the 
small,  beautifully  formed  Christ  Child  who  has  suddenly  appeared 
before  her,  his  transparent  little  mantle  of  blue,  star-spangled 
gauze  all  fluttering  from  his  haste,  and  who  offers  her  a  basket  of 


HANS  HOLBEIN  THE  ELDER  155 

flowers.  His  lips  are  parted  as  he  says  the  words  written  on  the 
scroll  he  bears — "See,  Dorothea,  I  bring  thee  roses";  to  which  the 
saint  responds  by  asking  him  to  take  them  for  her  to  Theophilus, 
who  has  vowed  that  if  she  will  send  him  roses  from  beyond  the 
grave,  he  will  become  a  Christian.  The  little  story  is  simply  and 
charmingly  told;  the  types  are  very  lovely,  the  garments  graceful, 
the  colouring  clear  and  joyous.  Slightly  disturbing  are  the  many 
stars  with  which  the  blue  background  is  so  thickly  dotted  and 
the  gilded  traceries  dividing  this  picture  from  the  one  in  the  arch 
above. 

The  artist  could  hardly  have  finished  this  work  for  St.  Catherine's 
Cloister  before  he  began  the  large  series  of  twelve  scenes  from  the 
Passion  of  Christ  in  Donaueschingen  Gallery,  which  are  painted  in 
stone  grey,  with  only  the  faces  and  hands,  hair  and  beard  and  an 
occasional  landscape  detail  given  in  colour.  And  almost  simultane- 
ously with  the  commission  for  these  scenes  came  one  from  the  Domi- 
nican Monks  in  Frankfort  to  paint  for  them  a  great  altar,  also  with 
scenes  from  the  Passion.  Of  these,  only  "  The  Last  Supper  "  is  still  in 
St.  Leonhard*s  Church  there,  the  rest,  in  sections,  having  been  trans- 
ferred to  the  Municipal  Museum.  The  picture  from  the  back  of  the 
shrine,  representing  the  Genealogical  Tree  of  Christ,  gives  not  only 
his  ancestors,  but,  among  the  curving  vine  stems,  against  the  back- 
ground of  a  red  brick  wall,  the  saints  of  the  Dominican  order.  The 
eleven  pictures  from  the  wings  and  the  base  represent  scenes  from 
the  Passion  in  which  the  figures  are  so  flat,  so  badly  modelled  and, 
for  the  most  part,  so  unlovely,  that  they  were,  doubtless,  almost 
entirely  the  work  of  pupils.  The  fighting  with  soft,  golden  sunlight 
is,  however,  most  attractive. 

In  the  next  year  the  painter  undertook  a  third  series  of  eight 
scenes  from  the  Passion,  together  with  eight  from  the  Life  of  the 
Virgin,  for  the  High  Altar  of  the  monastery  in  Kaisheim,  on  a  com- 
mission from  its  abbot,  George  Kastner.  In  these  pictures,  which 
are  in  Munich  Pinakothek,  the  happenings  are  made  to  seem  very 
real  and  natural  by  being  interpreted  in  terms  of  everyday  life. 
So,  in  "Christ  Taken  Prisoner,"  Gethsemane  is  a  little  German 
garden,  enclosed  by  a  characteristic  fence  of  braided  withes  over 
which  Judas  is  cfimbing.     The  people  are,  for  the  most  part,  por- 


156  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

trayed  from  life  and  here  and  there  is  a  really  fine  portrait,  as  that 
of  the  beardless  old  king  with  the  thin  fringe  of  grey  hair,  in  the 
"Adoration."  The  flesh  tones  are  clear  and  fair,  but  the  colouring 
in  these  panels  is,  on  the  whole,  less  harmonious  than  is  usual  in 
the  artist's  works;  much  pale  blue  is  used  in  the  garments  with 
bright  and  dark  red  and  yellow,  and  all  the  colours  stand  out  as 
independent,  local  and  imperfectly  blended  in  the  white  light  that 
fills  the  pictures.  Undoubtedly,  with  such  large  commissions  com- 
ing so  thick  and  fast,  Holbein  was  obliged  to  leave  much  of  the 
work  on  these  three  cycles  to  be  done  by  pupils. 

Work  in  St.  Catherine's  Cloister  was  resumed  in  1503,  when  the 
artist  painted,  for  Prioress  Veronica  Welser,  a  second  basilica,  St. 
Paul's.  In  the  arch  is  the  "  Crowning  with  Thorns"  which,  in  the 
types  presented,  and  the  attitude  of  the  seated  Christ,  is  reminiscent 
of  Schongauer's  engraving  of  the  subject,  although  in  modelling  and 
expressiveness  it  falls  short  of  the  achievement  of  the  Colmar  master. 
The  three  main  divisions  of  the  picture  are  crowded  with  scenes  from 
the  Life  of  Saint  Paul.  On  the  right  is,  in  the  foreground,  the  Burial 
of  the  Saint;  in  the  background,  three  other  scenes,  among  them  the 
Lowering  of  the  Saint  in  a  Basket  over  the  Wall  of  the  City.  On 
the  left  are,  in  the  background,  the  Conversion  of  St.  Paul,  and  St. 
Paul  in  Prison;  in  the  foreground,  the  Baptism,  in  which  Holbein 
himself  stands  to  the  right  of  the  font  with  his  two  sons,  Ambro- 
sius  and  Hans  the  Younger,  the  latter  a  lad  of  about  six  years.  The 
foreground  of  the  central  section  is  occupied  with  the  scenes  repre- 
senting St.  Paul  as  Prisoner,  and  the  Beheading  of  St.  Paul,  so  that 
the  chief  theme  of  the  picture,  the  basilica,  is  relegated  to  the  middle 
distance.  There  we  see  St.  Paul  in  a  low  box  of  a  pulpit  preaching 
earnestly;  a  man  and  a  woman  sitting  on  the  steps  of  the  altar  close 
beside  him  drink  in  every  word,  while  two  men  standing  near  him, 
one  of  whom  leans  on  his  elbow  on  the  altar,  listen  thoughtfully. 
But  long  before  we  discover  the  preaching  apostle,  indeed  before 
we  can  bring  ourselves  to  note  any  of  the  scenes  pictured,  our  gaze 
is  held  fascinated  by  a  solitary  woman  who  has  secured  a  chair  from 
somewhere,  placed  it  deliberately  right  in  the  middle  of  the  basilica 
and  seated  herself,  with  her  back  to  us  and  to  the  gruesome  scene  of 
martyrdom,  to  listen  to  the  sermon.     She  is  dressed  after  the  fashion 


Photograph  by  Franz  Hanfstaengl 


HANS  HOLBEIN  THE  ELDER 
St.  Barbara  and  St.  Elizabeth  of  Hungary 

ALTE    PINAKOTHEK,    MUNICH 


HANS  HOLBEIN  THE  ELDER  157 

of  the  period,  in  a  low-cut  gown  which  reveals  the  fine,  soft  modelling 
of  the  throat,  and  wears  an  ermine  collar  and  a  picturesque  white 
headdress.  This  figure,  so  lifelike  and  so  assured  in  its  pose,  arro- 
gating to  itself  the  position  of  greatest  importance  in  the  picture, 
gives  a  very  human,  worldly  touch  which  cannot  but  provoke  a  smile 
at  its  incongruity  and  whimsicality. 

During  the  three  years  after  the  finishing  of  this  picture,  from 
1505  to  1508,  Holbein  was  engaged  on  the  wings  of  a  large  altar-piece 
for  St.  Moritz's  Church  in  Augsburg,  which  have,  unfortunately, 
disappeared;  and  on  scenes  from  the  Life  of  the  Virgin  for  the  Nun- 
nery in  Oberschonefeld,  which  are  now  in  Augsburg  Gallery.  In  1508 
he  painted  for  the  Burgomaster  of  Augsburg,  Ulrich  Schwarz,  a  votive 
picture  which  shows,  assembled  below  the  enthroned  God  the  Father 
bearing  the  sword,  with  whom  Christ  and  the  Virgin  intercede,  the 
Burgomaster,  his  three  wives,  seventeen  sons  and  fourteen  daughters. 
The  divine  personages  look  Hke  ordinary  human  beings  and  are  not 
of  great  beauty  or  dignity,  but  the  kneeling  family  is  a  truly  remark- 
able group  of  portraits.  Each  individual  is  given  with  perfect  de- 
tachment and  with  well-marked  individuality,  yet  the  contours  are 
soft  and  yielding,  with  none  of  the  hardness  and  sharpness  which  is 
characteristic  of  so  many  of  the  portraits  by  the  earlier  German 
painters. 

That  the  elder  Holbein  possessed  in  large  measure  those 
gifts  of  the  portrait  painter  which  in  his  son  amounted  to  genius, 
is  felt  in  almost  all  his  later  pictures,  but  is  most  readily  and 
fully  appreciated  if  we  look  at  the  series  of  drawings  of  the 
monks  of  St.  Ulrich 's  in  his  sketch  book  in  Basel,  which  were 
made  about  1510.  The  modelling  is  perfect,  the  outlines  yielding 
and  without  sharpness,  the  individual  monks  so  wonderfully 
characterised  that  we  know  what  were  their  tastes  and  habits  of 
fife.  Their  over-fed  bodies  and  sensual  minds  and  hearts  as  here 
presented,  would,  in  themselves,  suggest  the  need  of  the  Refor- 
mation which  was  so  soon  to  voice  loud  its  protests  against  such 
as  these. 

We  have  no  record  of  the  artist's  activities  during  the  next  two 
years,  from  1510  to  1512.  In  the  latter  year  he  was  again  in  Augs- 
burg and  painted  an  altar  for  St.  Catherine's  Cloister  representing 


158  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

the  Crucifixion  of  St.  Peter,  the  Beheading  of  St.  Catherine, 
the  Virgin  and  St.  Anna,  and  a  scene  from  the  Legends  of 
St.  Uhich.  In  these  scenes,  which  are  now  in  Augsburg  Gallery, 
the  master  attains  to  perfect  naturalism;  the  people  represented 
are  all  definite  persons  and  even  the  villains  are  no  longer 
typical  caricatures  of  Jews,  but  are  burly  German  common 
soldiers.  The  full,  mature  forms  of  the  Virgin  and  St.  Anna 
are  Venetian  in  type  and  the  deep,  rich  colouring  is  also  reminis- 
cent of  the  school  of  the  Bellini.  This  development  would  lead 
us  to  infer  that  those  two  years  of  which  no  records  remain 
were  spent  in  Venice. 

Very  slight,  however,  are  the  traces  of  Italian  influence  in  the 
"Holy  Night,'*  in  Donaueschingen  Gallery,  which  bears,  on  the  step 
between  the  two  worshipping  angels,  the  date  1514.  The  dress  and 
pose  of  the  youthful  shepherd  on  the  hill  to  the  left,  with  the  fluttering 
of  the  long  plaid  worn  by  his  older  companion  are  almost  the  only 
touches  that  suggest  it.  In  the  foreground  the  tiny  Babe,  in  an 
aureole,  is  lying  on  a  very  high  bundle  of  straw;  the  Virgin 
kneels  in  worship;  behind  her,  Joseph,  smiling  happily  on  the 
Babe,  holds  a  candle  which  he  shelters  with  his  hand  from  the 
wind;  the  ox  stands  placidly  by;  three  angels  with  curious  wings 
of  long,  separate  feathers  in  all  different  colours,  kneel  in  raptur- 
ous adoration;  through  a  window  two  men  look  in  upon  the 
scene.  Through  a  doorway  in  the  background  we  see  into 
another  room  in  which  are  a  woman  with  a  lantern,  and  an  aged 
man  on  his  knees  in  prayer.  The  picture  is  very  lovely  and 
possesses  a  certain  quality  of  rapture  which  is  owing,  in  large 
measure,  to  the  faith  and  self-forgetful  devotion  of  the  actors  in 
the  scene,  though  in  part,  also,  to  the  glowing  colouring. 

Venetian  influence  is  quite  strongly  felt  in  Holbein's  master- 
piece, the  St.  Sebastian  Altar,  which  was  painted  for  the 
Salvatorkirche  in  Augsburg  in  1515  and  1516,  and  which  is  now 
in  Munich  Pinakothek.  It  represents,  on  the  outside,  the  Annun- 
ciation; on  the  shrine,  the  Martyrdom  of  St.  Sebastian;  on  the 
wings,  St.  Barbara  and  St.  EHzabeth. 

The  Annunciation  is  done  in  grey  on  grey,  with  the  faces 
and   some   accessories   lightly  touched   with   colour.      The  Virgin 


HANS  HOLBEIN  THE  ELDER  159 

kneeling  in  prayer  in  a  Renaissance  room,  is  pictured  as  receiv- 
ing with  much  dignity,  yet  with  humility,  the  message  of  the 
angel  with  the  round  cheeks,  the  short  curly  hair  and  the  great, 
feathered  wings  which  support  him  so  that  he  seems  to  float,  to 
hover  above  her,  and  does  not,  ever  so  lightly,  touch  the  ground. 
The  forms  are  full  and  softly  modelled;  although  they  are  almost 
without  colour,  there  is  no  suggestion  of  the  sharp  definiteness 
which  makes  the  forms  of  some  of  the  other  German  painters  of 
the  period  seem  like  figures  carved  in  wood. 

The  picture  on  the  shrine  of  the  altar  is  less  attractive.  The  nude 
form  of  the  mature  Saint  Sebastian,  with  the  sunken  chest  and  thin 
limbs,  is  unbeautiful  and  weakly  modelled.  The  heads  of  his  execu- 
tioners and  of  the  bystanders  are,  however,  exceedingly  lifelike  and 
expressive. 

The  Saints  Barbara  and  Elizabeth,  on  the  wings,  are  very 
lovely.  They  each  stand  in  a  richly  ornamented  Renaissance 
doorway,  with,  in  the  background,  trees  and  a  church.  St. 
Elizabeth  is  sm*rounded  by  beggars  at  once  beseeching  and 
adoring.  The  two  figures  are  statuesque  in  pose  and  regal  in 
bearing;  their  faces  bear  some  resemblance  to  the  rounded  type 
of  the  beautiful  women  in  the  Venetian  pictures  of  the  period,  yet 
are  entirely  individual;  their  garments,  fashioned  according  to 
the  prevailing  mode,  fall  in  large  simple  folds;  the  hair-dressing, 
too,  is  after  the  fashion  of  the  day,  though  both  saints  wear 
crowns  and  are  invested  with  halos.  The  colouring  is  of  great 
beauty.  The  flesh  tones  have  lost  the  reddish  cast  they  are  so 
frequently  given  in  the  painter's  earlier  works,  and  have  become 
fresh  and  natural;  the  rich,  glowing,  local  colours  are  blended  in 
harmony,  golden  in  tone  and  so  perfect  as  to  bear  comparison 
with  the  colour  harmonies  in  the  works  of  Holbein  the  Younger. 

The  last  years  of  the  artist's  Hfe  seem  to  have  been  hard 
ones,  full  of  financial  troubles.  We  read  that  he  travelled  here 
and  there  in  search  of  commissions,  the  course  of  his  wanderings 
bringing  him,  among  other  places,  to  Isenheim,  where  was  the 
masterpiece  of  Matthaiis  Griinewald.  But  of  creative  work  on 
his  own  part  nothing  more  is  heard.  In  1524  his  name  appears 
in  the  lists  in  Augsburg  among  the  deceased. 


160  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

Hans  Holbein  the  Elder  was  not  an  artist  of  great  depth 
of  penetration  but  he  observed  closely,  and  did  not  fail  to 
suggest  the  individual  note  in  every  personality.  Of  course,  he 
exaggerated  the  hateful  to  make  it  convincing;  but  his  feeling 
for  beauty  was  quick  and  keen,  and  his  pictures  are  pervaded 
with  it  and  possessed  of  much  dignity  and  charm,  except 
occasionally  when  everything  is  sacrificed  to  the  dramatic  quality 
in  a  scene.  His  colouring,  as  we  have  seen,  grew  more  and 
more  harmonious  as  his  art  developed.  It  is  indeed  not  such  a 
far  cry  from  the  father  Hans  Holbein  with  his  keen  obser- 
vation, skilful  characterisation,  beautiful  types  and  harmonious 
colouring,  to  the  son  Hans  Holbein  the  Younger. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

AUGSBURG 

HANS  BURGKMAIR 

A  CONTEMPORARY  of  the  elder  Hans  Holbein  in  Augsburg 
from  whose  hand  no  works  remain  to  us,  was  Toman  Burgk- 
mair,  whose  son  Hans,  born  in  1473,  became  one  of  the  best 
known  painters  of  the  sixteenth  century.  His  studies  were  doubt- 
less begun  in  his  father's  workshop,  but  he  went,  while  still  very 
young,  to  Colmar,  to  the  great  Schongauer.  Souvenirs  of  his 
sojourn  there  are  the  beautiful  portrait  of  his  master  in  Munich 
Pinakothek,  which  was  done,  however,  at  a  later  date,  when  he 
had  acquired  more  technical  skill,  and  the  portrait  in  Schleiss- 
heim  Castle,  dated  1490,  of  Gailer  of  Kaisersperg,  who  at  that 
time  was  preaching  in  the  neighbouring  Strassburg.  This  por- 
trait, done  when  the  painter  was  only  seventeen  years  old,  presents 
the  famous  preacher  in  half  length  against  a  blue-green  back- 
ground, wearing  a  tightly  fitting  black  coat  and  a  high  black  cap. 
It  is  a  record  of  his  external  appearance  merely,  is  flat  and  hard 
and  painfully  exact,  and  gives  no  hint  of  his  profound  scholarship  or 
devout  enthusiasm.  From  Colmar,  the  young  artist  probably  went 
on  to  Venice,  and  spent  there  the  years  until  1498,  of  which  no 
record  remains.  In  1498  he  became  a  citizen  of  Augsbm-g,  where 
he  married  Anna  AUerhahn.     He  died  in  1531. 

Very  shortly  after  his  return  to  his  native  city  he  received  from 
the  nuns  of  St.  Catherine's  Cloister  a  commission  to  paint  basilica 
pictures  in  that  series  upon  which  Hans  Holbein  the  Elder  and 
Master  L.  F.  were  already  engaged.  In  1501  he  painted  St.  Peter 
enthroned  in  his  Church,  surrounded  by  fourteen  Saints.  In  the 
arch  is  Christ  in  Gethsemane.  The  next  year  he  painted  "San 
Giovanni  in  Laterano,"  which  presents,  besides  the  basilica  in  the 
central  picture,  six  scenes  from  the  Life  of  St.  John,  with,  in  the 
arch,  the  Scourging  of  Christ.     In  1504  he  completed  the   series 

161 


162  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

with  the  basilica  of  Santa  Croce,  in  which  he  introduced,  in  the 
arch,  the  Crucifixion,  in  the  central  section,  the  church,  on  the 
sides,  the  Martyrdom  of  the  Ten  Thousand  Virgins.  The  architec- 
ture in  all  three  pictures  possesses  many  Italian  features;  the 
forms  are  full  and  rounded,  and  in  the  Passion  scenes  the  suffering 
is  not  permitted  to  be  so  real  as  to  mar  the  beauty  of  face  and 
form.  In  the  earlier  picture,  the  garments  are  painstakingly  dis- 
posed while  in  those  painted  last  they  hang  freely  in  large 
graceful  folds.  The  colouring  is  unpleasantly  heavy,  even  the 
shadows  on  the  faces  being  dark  brown  in  tone;  gold  is  lavishly 
used  in  crowns,  halos  and  garments  with  rather  garish  effect. 

After  finishing  the  work  for  the  cloister,  Burgkmair  painted,  in 
1505,  the  two  panels,  now  in  the  Germanic  Museum,  Nuremberg,  one 
of  which  presents  St.  Christopher  carrying  the  Christ  Child,  ac- 
companied by  St.  Vitus;  the  other,  St.  Sebastian,  over  whose 
nude  body  a  mantle  has  been  lightly  thrown,  and  the  Emperor 
Constantine  who  wears,  over  his  black  and  gold  armour,  a  hand- 
some green  mantle  trimmed  with  ermine.  On  his  head  is  a 
jewelled  crown,  in  his  hands  he  bears  a  sword  and  sceptre. 
The  two  stand  in  a  Renaissance  hall  across  which,  behind  them, 
three  angels  hold,  breast-high,  a  gold-embroidered  drapery.  The 
landscape  in  the  background  and  the  late-Italian  angel  hovering 
overhead  are  recent  additions.  The  form  of  St.  Sebastian  is 
refined  and  beautiful  and  his  attitude  one  of  great  alertness; 
Constantine  has  nothing  of  the  imperial  about  him;  he  is  neither 
imposing  in  appearance  nor  commanding  in  bearing,  but  gives 
rather  the  effect  of  an  Augsburg  burgher  dressed  in  gorgeous 
regaUa.  An  impression  is  given  here  which  we  frequently  receive 
from  Burgkmair's  people;  they  are  beautifully  modelled,  with  pli- 
able lines  and  rounded  contours,  but  what  we  might  call  fundamental 
construction  is  lacking  in  most  of  them;  they  seem  to  be  modelled 
on  the  outside  only  and  to  have  no  firm,  unyielding,  inner  structure 
back  of  their  softly  rounded  curves.  Nor  is  this  a  merely  physical 
pecuharity;  it  is  a  quality  which  affects  them  mind  and  soul,  so 
that,  though  they  be  represented  as  being,  believing  or  feeling  a  cer- 
tain thing,  we  seldom  fail  to  question  their  genuiness,  to  suspect 
that  they  are  just  robed  and  posed  for  their  parts. 


Photograph  by  Fried.  Hoefle,  Augsburg 

HANS  BURGKMAIR 

Group  of  Saints  (Detail) 
royal  gallery,  augsburg 


Photograph  by  Fntd.  HoiJU-,  Aiajshuiy 

HANS  BURGKM AIR 

Virgin  and  Child 
germanic  museum,  nuremberg 


HANS  BURGKMAIR  163 

Thus  in  the  "Coronation  of  the  Virgin,"  which  was  painted  in 
1507,  and  is  now  in  Augsburg  Gallery,  the  Christ  is  so  weak 
and  unimpressive  in  form  and  attitude  that  we  are  not  impressed 
with  the  joyous  solemnity  of  the  occasion,  or  with  the  sympa- 
thetic tenderness  of  the  Divine  Son,  which  the  artist  seeks  to 
convey  through  the  sentimental  expression  of  the  face  and  the 
pose  of  the  head,  which  is  crowned  with  the  crown  of  thorns  as 
well  as  the  kingly  crown.  Through  the  windows  in  the  back  of 
the  throne  we  see  countless  angels.  In  the  background  the  sky 
is  cloudy  and  troubled — an  effect  which  the  artist  has  sought 
simply  for  its  own  sake  and  which  is  out  of  place  and  disquiet- 
ing. On  the  wings  is  a  singularly  archaic  arrangement  of  saints 
and  prophets,  in  three  rows,  one  above  the  other. 

From  1509  dates  one  of  the  artist's  most  beautiful  pictures,  the 
"Madonna  in  a  Landscape,"  in  the  Germanic  Museum,  Nuremberg. 
The  Virgin,  a  tall,  graceful  woman  in  a  red  robe  with  blue  mantle 
lined  with  green,  a  white  veil  over  her  head,  is  sitting  on  a  richly  decor- 
ated, high-backed,  marble  seat,  all  beautiful  with  climbing  vines  and 
many-coloured  flowers  and  Httle  birds.  On  her  lap  is  an  open  book; 
at  her  knee  stands  the  Holy  Child  holding  a  pomegranate.  In  the 
background  is  a  hilly  landscape  with  many  trees  and  a  castle.  This 
Virgin  is  one  of  the  most  charming  of  all  Burgkmair's  conceptions. 
Lovely  in  face  and  form,  her  beautifully  coloured  robes  falling  in 
natural  and  graceful  folds  about  her,  she  sits,  devoid  of  all  self- 
consciousness,  happily  dreaming.  The  child  is  quite  naively  done 
from  life,  and  is  frankly  bow-legged.  In  the  colouring  the  painter 
has  gotten  away  from  the  heavy,  brown  tone  of  his  earlier  works  to 
a  rich,  deep  harmony  like  that  of  the  early  Venetians. 

A  second  Madonna  picture  which  possesses  much  beauty  was 
painted  in  the  following  year  and  is  also  in  the  Germanic  Museum. 
The  Virgin,  wearing  the  same  robes  as  in  the  foregoing,  is  seated  in  a 
landscape,  in  front  of  a  fence  of  braided  withes,  over  which  is 
thrown  a  Persian  rug,  and  holds  on  her  knee  the  Child,  to  whom 
she  is  offering  a  bunch  of  grapes  plucked  from  the  vine  beside 
them. 

To  the  next  year,  1511,  belongs  a  third  picture  in  this  vein,  the 
"  Holy  Family,"  in  Berlin  Gallery.     Here  the  Virgin,  of  fuller,  rounder 


164  GERIViAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

face  and  form,  like  the  Madonnas  of  Jacopo  de'  Barbari,  is  seated  in 
a  loggia,  and  Joseph,  a  young  man  of  pronounced  Italian  type  with 
brown,  curling  hair  and  beard,  is  endeavouring  to  attract  the  Child's 
attention  with  a  bunch  of  grapes.  To  the  left  stretches  a  landscape 
with  a  stream  and  many  trees  on  which  the  sunlight  is  shining  as  it 
does  on  the  forest  in  Altdorfer's  St.  George,  and  the  large  tree 
in  the  middle  distance  is  encircled  by  a  cloud  full  of  cherubs, 
a  motif  which  cannot  fail  to  recall  the  ring  of  angels  in  the 
Ratisbon  master's  "Birth  of  the  Virgin." 

By  this  time  the  attention  of  the  Emperor  Maximilian  was 
attracted  to  the  Augsburg  painter,  whom,  in  1510,  he  commissioned  to 
work  on  the  illustrations  for  the  Imperial  Genealogy.  These  com- 
pleted, he  went  on  to  make  drawings  for  other  artistic  undertakings  of 
the  Emperor;  for  that  history,  in  woodcuts,  of  his  life  and  deeds, 
which  was  called  the  "White  King"  (Weisskunig) ;  for  the  "Tri- 
umphal Procession"  and  the  "Austrian  Saints."  These  plates  are, 
for  the  most  part,  so  crowded  with  jfigures  and  with  ornamenta- 
tion that  it  is  quite  difficult  to  find  the  real  theme.  The  year 
1515  found  him,  with  so  many  other  artists,  engaged  on  the  illustra- 
tions for  the  Emperor's  Prayerbook.  His  part  in  this  work  seems  to 
have  been  small,  however,  as  only  the  "Triumph  of  Love,"  in  the 
Besangon  fragment,  and  possibly  the  "Hermit's  Vision"  and  "Man 
riding  an  Elephant"  are  from  his  hand. 

Meanwhile  commissions  of  an  entirely  different  character 
occupied  him  in  Augsburg.  In  1514,  according  to  Sandrart,  "this 
Burgkmair  painted  very  artistically  a  corner  house  in  Count  Fugger's 
dwelling,  on  the  Wine  Market  in  Augsburg,  and  also  a  house  opposite 
St.  Anna's  Church,  where  he  painted  on  the  wall  with  much  clever- 
ness and  skill,  artisans,  distinct  individuals,  and  so  perfect  in  colour 
that  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  they  have  been  exposed  to  wind,  rain  and 
sun  and  other  disturbances  of  the  weather,  in  so  many  years,  they  have 
hardly  lost  or  faded  at  all."  But  the  frescoes  on  the  Fugger  house 
have  now  disappeared  from  view,  while  the  remains  of  the  groups 
of  peasants,  warriors,  and  merchants  on  the  house  opposite  St. 
Anna's  Church  have  been  thoroughly  restored.  A  year  later,  in 
1515,  he  painted  frescoes  in  the  Damenhof  of  the  Fugger  residence, 
representing  scenes  from  the  life  of  the  Emperor  Maximilian  simi- 


HANS  BURGKMAIR  165 

lar  to  those  in  the  "Triumphal  Procession"  and  framed  with 
ornamental  garlands  in  the  Italian  Renaissance  manner. 

To  1518  belongs  one  of  the  artist's  greatest  works,  an  altar-piece, 
of  which  the  wings,  which  present,  in  full  length,  the  standing 
figures  of  Saints  Erasmus  and  Nicholas,  are  in  Schleissheim, 
while  the  central  section,  representing  St.  John  on  Patmos,  is  in 
Munich  Pinakothek. 

St.  John  is  pictured  sitting  under  a  palm  tree  writing  his  book. 
All  about  him  the  tropical  vegetation  is  most  luxuriant,  flowers  bloom 
and  fruits  ripen,  and  many  small  animals  and  birds  enliven  the  scene. 
In  the  background  is  the  sea  on  whose  shore  are  tall  moimtain  peaks. 
Suddenly  a  brilUant,  many-coloured  light  has  burst  through  the 
clouds  and  John,  startled,  has  turned  to  behold,  in  the  heart  of  the 
light,  the  Virgin,  Queen  of  Heaven.  The  effect  of  the  supernatural 
is  wonderfully  conveyed  by  the  light,  handled,  as  it  is,  in  a  way 
which  cannot  fail  to  recall  Altdorfer,  and  which  is  of  much  beauty. 
Yet  the  representation  falls  short  of  being  profoundly  impressive 
because  the  painter  fails  to  lose  himself  in  it.  His  manifest  con- 
sciousness of  the  many  accessories  and  of  the  technical  achieve- 
ments in  lighting  and  atmospheric  quality  intensifies  our  conscious- 
ness in  turn,  puts  us  outside  the  picture,  so  to  speak,  so  that  instead 
of  being  absorbed  we  become  critical.  Whereupon  we  find  that 
the  sky  is  soHd  rather  than  vaporous,  that  the  clouds  which 
should  be  all  glory  are  muddy  and  streaked  here  and  there  with 
black,  and  an  uneasy  uncertainty  mounts  within  us  as  to  whether 
the  scene  is  wholly  ecstatic — a  disquiet  which  is  further  heightened 
by  the  saint's  expresssion,  which  reveals  interest,  even  anxiety, 
but  no  rapture.  The  painter  was  indeed  so  greatly  concerned,  so 
nervously  anxious,  over  the  details  of  the  setting  and  the  technical 
problem  of  the  Hghting,  that  they  acquired  more  importance  in  his 
estimation  than  the  emotional  content  of  the  picture. 

The  next  year  Burgkmair  painted  for  St.  Catherine's  Cloister 
the  large  altar  with  the  Crucifixion  as  its  subject,  which  has  now 
been  taken  from  Augsburg  to  Munich  Pinakothek.  On  the  outside 
are  presented  St.  George  and  St.  Paul.  In  the  central  section  is  the 
high  cross  on  which  hangs  the  Christ,  a  slender  form,  with  hands  and 
arms  and  feet  painfully  distorted,  with  the  body  and  face  all  blood- 


166  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

stained  but  not  contorted  or  unbeautiful  to  look  upon.  To  the  right 
of  the  cross  stands  John,  with  both  hands  raised  as  if  in  protest  and 
horror  at  the  scene;  to  the  left,  the  Virgin  in  the  dress  of  the  period, 
and  wearing  a  white  headdress,  her  hands  folded,  her  features  swollen 
with  weeping.  Mary  Magdalen,  in  handsome,  brocaded  robe  with 
plain  mantle,  is  clinging  to  the  foot  of  the  cross.  In  the  middle 
distance  is  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  in  a  landscape  with  snow-capped 
mountains  in  the  background.  Overhead,  the  sky  is  intensely  blue, 
with  unquiet  clouds,  one  of  which,  just  above  the  cross,  casts  its  dark 
shadow  over  the  face  of  the  Christ. 

On  the  right  wing  is  the  cross  of  the  good  thief,  beside  which 
stands  St.  Lazarus,  dressed  very  simply  in  the  fashion  of  the  time, 
his  hands  folded  as  he  leans  forward  and  looks  up,  wondering  and 
adoring.  On  the  left  wing  the  unrepentant  thief  is  seen  in  profile; 
at  the  foot  of  his  cross,  disregarding  it  and  facing  the  spectator, 
stands  St.  Martha.  Groves  of  trees  almost  fill  the  background  in 
these  two  pictures.  The  sky  above  the  cross  of  the  repentant  male- 
factor is  filled  with  light,  in  which  an  angel  is  seen  bearing  his  spirit- 
ual body  heavenward;  above  the  other's  cross  all  is  black  dark- 
ness, in  which  is  dimly  discernible  a  devil  carrying  off  his  unhappy 
soul. 

The  atmosphere  in  all  three  pictures  is  calculated  to  reflect  the 
supreme  tragedy  being  enacted  and  to  impress  us  with  its  horror. 
But  again  there  comes  to  us  that  sense  of  unreality  which,  for  all 
his  technical  skill  and  beauty  of  types  and  of  colouring,  prevents 
Burgkmair  from  taking  rank  among  the  very  greatest  painters. 
These  people  are  not  capable  of  really  deep  feeling,  of  passion- 
ate faith,  love  or  grief;  they  are  merely  assuming  the  poses 
that  ought  to  express  those  emotions.  They  are  not  theatrical, 
affected  or  even  excessively  self-conscious;  they  are  simply  not 
spontaneous.  Thus  scenes  like  this  of  the  Crucifixion  do  not 
give  the  impression  of  reality,  but  rather  one  akin  to  that 
gained  from  a  tableau  in  which  those  taking  part  have  been 
trained  to  assume,  with  some  grace,  appropriate  attitudes  and 
expressions. 

A  new  patron  engaged  the  artist's  activities  in  1529,  when 
Duke  Wilhelm  IV  commissioned    him  to   paint   for   his  series  of 


HANS  BURGKMAIR  167 

battle  scenes  the  picture  of  the  Battle  of  Canna,  now  in  Augsburg 
Gallery.  It  is  nothing  more  than  a  Hteral  historical  picture,  done 
in  a  heavy  brown  tone,  without  atmosphere  or  charm. 

In  this  year  he  also  painted  the  double  portrait  of  himself  and 
his  wife,  which  is  in  Vienna  Gallery.  Frau  Burgkmair,  who  has  strong 
features  and  rather  thin,  wavy  hair  that  falls  about  her  shoulders, 
is  holding  a  mirror,  out  of  which  look  two  death's  heads.  Beside 
her  stands  the  artist,  with  round,  clean-shaven  face;  his  keen  glance 
is  directed  toward  the  spectator  and,  with  his  outstretched  hand, 
seems  to  direct  attention  to  the  lugubrious  inscription  above: 
"Such  a  form  we  both  have,  but  a  mirror  has  nothing  but 
this!" 

Two  years  later,  in  1531,  the  artist  died. 

Hans  Burgkmair,  like  the  other  artists  of  the  Swabian  School, 
is  pre-eminently  a  story  teller.  He  is  no  revealer  of  men's  souls 
or  of  the  inner  springs  of  their  actions.  When  he  tells  a  simple 
story  or  presents  a  happy  scene  from  the  home  hfe  of  the  Holy 
Family,  his  beautiful  types  and  a  gift  of  colour  approaching  that 
of  the  Venetians  make  the  pictures  of  rare  beauty.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  when  he  attempts  to  give  us  a  glimpse  of  the  deepest 
emotions  known  to  the  hearts  of  men,  he  fails  to  be  convincing 
in  spite  of  his  command  of  revelatory  and  dramatic  effects  in  light- 
ing; the  attitudes  of  his  actors  seem  studied,  their  poses  acquired, 
even  their  physical  presences  unreal. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

AUGSBURG 
MINOR  ARTISTS 

Sigmund  Holbein — Ambrosius  Holbein — Gumpold  Giltlnger — ^Leo  Frass — Hans 
Burgkmair  the  Younger — Jorg  Breu — Ulrich  Apt — ^Leonhard  Beck — 
Christoph  Amberger — Christoph  Schwartz 

BESIDES  the  greatly  gifted  artists  Hans  Holbein  the  Elder 
and  Hans  Burgkmair,  and  the  genius,  Hans  Holbein  the 
Younger,  almost  all  of  whose  active  life  as  a  painter  was 
spent  away  from  his  home  city,  there  were  in  Augsburg  in  the 
closing  years  of  the  fifteenth,  and  throughout  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, many  painters  of  lesser  talent,  whose  works  claim  our 
interest  and  consideration. 

Among  them  were  two  other  members  of  the  Holbein  family, 
Sigmund,  a  brother,  and  Ambrosius  a  son  of  the  elder  Hans.  The 
only  picture  by  Sigmund  which  has  been  identified  is  a  very  at- 
tractive "Madonna  and  Child  with  Angels,"  in  the  Germanic  Mus- 
eum, which  is  signed  "S.  Holbain."  In  composition  and  spirit 
it  resembles  closely  the  Madonna  pictures  of  Hans  Holbein  the 
Elder,  while  in  types  and  colouring  it  reveals,  in  a  marked 
degree,  the  influence  of  Zeitblom.  The  last  years  of  Sigmund 
Holbein's  life  were  spent  in  Bern,  where  he  evidently  accumulated 
some  wealth,  as,  upon  his  death  in  1540,  he  left  a  considerable 
legacy  to  his  nephew  Hans.  His  other  nephew,  Ambrosius,  son 
of  Hans  the  Elder,  went  to  Basel  with  his  brother  in  1515,  and 
two  years  later  became  a  member  of  the  Guild  there.  The  year 
following  he  was  admitted  to  citizenship,  but  must  have  died 
young,  for  after  that  date  nothing  more  is  recorded  about  him. 
In  Basel  Kunstsammlung  is  his  "Christ  as  Mediator"  in  which  the 
Christ  is  copied  from  the  title  page  of  Diirer's  large  woodcut 
Passion.  Two  portraits  of  boys  attributed  to  him  are  well  drawn 
and  lifelike — are  indeed  very  similar  to  the  works  of  the  younger 
Hans  Holbein  from  the  same  period.    To  Ambrosius  is  now  at- 

168 


MINOR  ARTISTS  169 

tributed  the  portrait  of  the  Swiss  painter  Hans  Herbst,  or  Herb- 
ster,  painted  in  1516,  which  was  formerly  ascribed  to  his  younger 
brother,  and  also  the  portrait  of  his  friend  the  goldsmith  Georg 
Schweiger,  and  that  of  "A  Young  Man,"  dated  1518,  in  the 
Hermitage  Gallery,  St.  Petersburg.  In  Basel  Kunstsammlung  are, 
further,  from  his  hand,  two  "Death's  Heads"  behind  a  window  grat- 
ing, and  several  drawings  for  portraits  and  for  glass  windows. 

A  contemporary  of  the  elder  Holbein  who  received  important 
commissions  in  Augsburg  was  Gumpold  Giltinger.  We  read  that 
he  was  engaged  from  1481  to  1484  on  a  great  altar  for  the  Frauen- 
kirche,  which  has,  unfortunately,  disappeared.  In  the  Louvre  is 
a  signed  "  Adoration  of  the  Kings,"  and  in  Augsburg  Gallery  a  pic- 
ture with  the  same  subject  which  is  attributed  to  him,  and  in 
which  the  second  king,  bearing  the  um,  is  identified  with  Anton 
Fugger,  of  the  princely  Augsburg  family.  The  paintings  on  the 
shutters  of  the  smaller  organ  in  St.  Anna's  Church  are  also  gen- 
erally accepted  as  his  work.  Judging  by  the  few  pictures  that 
remain,  Giltinger  was  an  artist  of  little  distinction.  The  scenes 
are  crowded,  the  expressions  of  the  people  vacant  or  affected, 
the  colours  brilliant  and  inharmonious. 

A  painter  who,  in  1502,  worked  at  the  same  time  as  Holbein  on 
the  basilica  pictures  for  St.  Catherine's  Cloister,  signed  his  pictures 
with  the  initials  L.  F.  This  was  possibly  Leo  Frass,  whose  name  ap- 
pears on  the  city  list  of  painters  in  1499;  or  it  may  have  been  that 
Laux  Frelich  who,  in  1440,  was  introduced  to  the  Guild  by  Gumpold 
Giltinger  as  one  of  his  pupils.  He  unites  in  his  picture  for  St. 
Catherine's  Cloister  the  two  basilicas  of  San  Lorenzo  and  San 
Sebastiano.  Standing  beside  them,  are  their  titular  saints,  St. 
Lawrence  bearing  his  grill  and  a  palm  branch,  St.  Sebastian 
holding  an  arrow.  In  the  central  section  is  pictured  the  Martyr- 
dom of  St.  Stephen;  on  the  sides  are  four  incidents  connected 
with  the  finding  of  the  cross  by  St.  Helena;  on  the  arch  above 
is  the  Judas  Kiss.  The  men  are  large-framed  and  coarse,  the 
women  bony  and  unattractive;  the  colouring  is  dark,  and  gold  is 
very  lavishly  used. 

A  son  of  Hans  Burgkmair,  Hans  the  Younger,  followed  his 
father's  profession  but  devoted  himself  for  the  most  part  to  that 


170  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

branch  of  it  which  has  to  do  with  book  illustration.  Of  his  paint- 
ings, the  most  important  is  the  "  Christ  in  Hades  *'  which  was  done  in 
1534  for  St.  Anna's  Church  in  Augsburg,  and  in  which  an  evident 
endeavour  to  imitate  the  later  Venetian  painters  results  in  Italian 
types,  distressing  movement,  unsettled  and  disquieting  colouring. 
Very  similar  in  style  are  the  Assumption  of  Christ  and  the  Virgin 
on  the  shutters  of  the  larger  organ  in  the  same  church,  which  are 
also  attributed  to  him.  His  chief  work  as  an  illuminator  is  to  be 
found  in  the  third  section  of  the  "Book  of  Jousts"  (Turnierbuch)  in 
the  Library  of  Sigmaringen  Castle,  on  the  pages  representing  the 
tournaments  which  were  held  in  the  Wine  Market  in  Augsburg 
on  the  occasion  of  the  Marriage  of  Catherine  Fugger  to  Count 
Wundfort,  in  1553. 

Mentioned  in  the  records  from  1501  to  1536  is  Jorg  Breu  (Brew 
or  Prew)  from  whose  hand,  however,  few  works  remain.  The  most 
interesting,  in  Berlin  Gallery,  shows,  in  a  rolling  landscape,  between 
two  graceful,  slender  trees,  a  Madonna,  of  girlish  type,  her  draperies 
falling  in  broad  folds  similar  to  those  in  the  pictures  by  the  elder 
Burgkmair,  and  a  chubby,  nude  Child  who  is  standing  on  her  knee 
with  one  arm  around  her  neck.  Overhead,  two  small  angels  are 
flying  swiftly  toward  them,  bearing  a  crown.  Beside  her  sit  the 
youthful  saints,  Barbara  and  Catherine,  handsomely  robed  in  cos- 
tumes of  the  period  and  wearing  crowns.  On  the  ground  at  their 
feet  are  seven  winged  cherubs,  who  are  singing  enthusiastically 
from  scrolls  which  intimate,  moreover,  that  they  are  the  seven 
cardinal  virtues.  The  types  are  refined,  the  forms,  though  youth- 
ful, are  full,  the  faces  round,  the  expressions,  though  serious  and 
absorbed,  are  very  childlike.  The  colouring  is  like  the  elder 
Burgkmair' s. 

Jorg  Breu's  son,  the  younger  Jorg,  became  a  Master  in  the 
Guild  in  Augsburg  in  1534  and  died  there  in  1547.  He  was  one  of 
the  painters  engaged  upon  Duke  Wilhelm  IV's  series  of  battle  scenes, 
in  which  he  painted  the  Battle  of  Zama,  at  the  moment  of  the  victory 
of  Scipio  Africanus  over  Hannibal.  His  most  important  work  is  the 
St.  Ursula  Altar  in  Dresden  Gallery,  which  pictures  the  martyrdom 
of  the  saint,  with,  on  the  outer  sides  of  the  wings,  the  standing 
figures  of  St.  Ursula  and  St.  George. 


Photograph  by  Hoflinger,  Basel 

AMBROSIUS  HOLBEIN 

Portrait  of  Hans  Herbst,  the  Swiss  Painter 

oeffentliche  kunstsammlung,  basel 


Photograph  by  the  Berlin  Photographic  Society 

CHRISTOPH  AMBERGER 

Portrait  of  Sebastian  Munster,  the  Cosmographeb 

kaiser  friedhich  museum,  berlin 


MINOR  ARTISTS  171 

A  painter  who  developed  under  the  influence  of  the  elder  Burg- 
kmair  was  Ulrich  Apt  the  Elder,  who  was  a  Master  in  the  Guild  in 
Augsburg  in  1486  and  died  there  in  1532.  His  chief  work,  a  trip- 
tych which  was  painted  in  1517  for  the  Dominican  Church  and 
is  now  in  Augsburg  Gallery,  presents,  on  the  shrine,  the  Cruci- 
fixion, on  the  wings,  in  profile,  the  crosses  of  the  two  thieves. 
Over  the  cross  hangs  a  cloud  out  of  which  come  angels  with 
variously  coloured  robes  and  wings,  bearing  chaUces  in  which  to 
treasure  the  precious  blood.  Over  the  cross  of  the  good  thief  an 
angel  hovers  to  bring  him  strength  and  comfort,  while  a  hideous 
devil  is  seizing  the  soul  of  the  unrepentant  evildoer  on  the  other 
cross.  On  the  outer  sides  of  the  wings  is  the  Annunciation, 
which  is  done  in  grey  on  grey,  except  that  the  hair  is  reddish 
and  the  cheeks  are  faintly  coloured.  The  types  on  this  altar 
are  round  faced,  wholesome-looking  and  pleasing,  the  draperies 
soft  and  graceful.  The  landscape  backgrounds,  the  trees  and 
vines  recall  Altdorfer,  to  whom,  indeed,  this  altar-piece  was  at- 
tributed previous  to  the  discovery  of  the  artist's  signature  A.  P.  T. 
on  the  bridle  of  one  of  the  donkeys  in  the  central  picture. 

A  contemporary  of  the  younger  Burgkmair  who  became  a 
Master  in  Augsburg  in  1503  and  who  died  there  in  1542,  was 
Leonhard  Beck.  He  is  known  chiefly  from  his  drawings  for 
woodcuts  for  the  series  planned  by  Emperor  Maximilian,  which 
reveal  him  as  a  simple,  naive  story  teller  with  a  fine  sense  of  the 
decorative.  His  painting  of  St.  George  and  the  Dragon,  in 
Vienna  Gallery,  presents  a  very  youthful  saint,  clad  in  finely 
chased,  shining  armour,  with  waving  plumes  in  his  helmet,  and 
riding  a  richly  caparisoned  steed.  He  has  dashed  over  the 
ground  strewn  with  the  bones  of  the  monster's  victims,  and  has 
driven  his  sword  into  the  venomous  dragon,  which  has  fallen 
over  on  its  back,  wounded  to  the  death.  On  a  hillock  close  at 
hand  is  the  sedate  and  quite  mature-looking  princess,  in  beauti- 
ful robes,  and  on  another  little  hillock  Her  lamb,  whose  tether 
she  holds.  In  the  middle  distance  we  see  the  end  of  the  story. 
Out  of  a  break  in  the  rustic  fence  the  princess  is  walking  de- 
murely, leading  the  wounded  dragon,  while  her  stately  knight 
brings  up  the  rear  of  the  procession.     Beautiful  trees  and  high 


172  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

rocks  fill  the  middle  distance,  except  for  a  wide  opening  to  the 
left  through  which  a  view  is  given  of  meadows  closed  in  by 
mountains  in  the  background.  The  story  is  told  with  the  literal- 
ness  and  simple  faith  of  a  Carpaccio,  the  many  details  are  done 
with  exquisite  care  and  the  whole  picture  is  unusually  decora- 
tive in  effect. 

To  the  second  half  of  the  XVI  century  belonged  Christoph 
Amberger,  who  was  born  about  1500,  arrived  at  the  dignity  of 
Master  in  the  Guild  in  1530,  and  died  before  October  1552.  Of 
his  studies  nothing  is  definitely  known,  but  the  influence  of  the 
later  Italian  painters  is  very  marked  in  almost  all  his  works. 
His  masterpiece  of  religious  painting,  in  the  choir  of  Augsburg 
Cathedral — signed  C.  A.  and  dated  1534 — presents,  in  the  middle 
section,  a  Madonna  of  Venetian  type,  holding  the  Child,  whom 
music-making  angels  adore.  In  the  arch  above  is  the  Trinity;  on 
the  wings  are  St.  Ulrich  and  St.  Afra,  the  latter  resembling  quite 
closely  Raphael's  St.  Cecilia;  on  the  base  are  half-length  figures 
of  seven  saints.  The  costumes,  attitudes  and  colouring  reflect 
the  influence  of  such  an  Italian  master  as  Paul  Veronese. 

Amberger's  fame  as  a  portrait  painter  is  much  greater  than 
as  a  painter  of  religious  pictures.  His  figures  are  firmly  modelled 
and  quite  imposing;  the  details  are  given  with  care  yet  with  con- 
siderable breadth;  the  materials  are  well  rendered;  the  flesh  tones 
are  clear  and  fair.  His  people  generally  give  an  impression  of 
great  lifelikeness,  though  their  eyes  are  sometimes  rather  staring. 
Most  beautiful  of  all  his  portraits  is  that  of  Herr  von  Rieta  in 
Sigmaringen  Castle.*  It  presents,  against  a  green  curtain,  a 
young  man  in  a  green,  brocaded  mantle,  with  white  chemisette, 
wearing  a  black  hat,  and  holding  in  his  hand  a  carnation.  On  his 
sword  hilt  is  the  inscription — "I  was  22  years  old  and  loved  joy," 
and  on  a  pendant  is  the  commentary — "He  suffered  no  lack." 
The  lifelikeness  and  distinction  of  the  head,  with  the  rich,  yet 
subdued  and  harmonious  colouring,  make  the  portrait  one  of  rare 
beauty. 

Three  years  later  the  artist's  fame  as  a  portrait  painter  had 
become   so  great  that  he  was  summoned,  in  1532,  to  paint  the 

*  Some  critics  now  attribute  this  portrait  to  Hans  Baldung  Grun. 


MINOR  ARTISTS  173 

portrait  of  the  Emperor  Charles  V,  now  in  Berlin  Gallery,  which 
His  Imperial  Highness  valued  so  greatly  that  he  gave  the  artist 
three  times  the  price  agreed  upon  and  presented  him,  besides,  with 
a  golden  chain. 

An  artist  who  was  strongly  influenced  by  the  late  Italian 
painters  was  Christoph  Schwartz,  who  continued  to  work  almost 
into  the  XVII  century,  or  from  1550  to  1597.  The  types  in  his 
religious  pictures  are  rather  weak,  the  colouring  heavy,  with  black 
shadows.  Such  portraits  as  those  in  the  group  of  members  of 
his  own  family,  in  Munich  Pinakotek,  give  an  impression  of  life- 
likeness,  but  lack  inspiration. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

AUGSBURG— BASEL 

HANS  HOLBEIN  THE  YOUNGER 

TIE  greatest  painter  of  the  Swabian  School,  as  also  one  of 
the  chief  glories  of  German  art,  was  Hans  Holbein  the 
Younger,  son  of  that  older  Hans  Holbein  who  won  great 
fame  as  a  painter  in  Augsburg.  We  know  him  as  a  small  boy 
from  the  baptismal  scene  in  the  picture  of  St.  Paul's  Basilica 
which  his  father  painted  for  the  nuns  of  St.  Catherine's  Cloister, 
in  which  he  introduced  himself  and  his  two  young  sons,  Hans 
and  Ambrosius,  as  interested  witnesses.  Hans  is  a  round-faced, 
meditative  lad,  with  short,  rumpled  hair,  who,  standing  behind  the 
officiating  priest  appears  to  observe  everything  very  closely  and 
to  let  nothing  escape  him.  Even  in  this  early  picture  features  and 
expression  are  very  much  like  the  Basel  coloured  portrait-drawing  of 
the  artist  in  a  red  cap,  which  was  drawn  in  1526.  He  evidently 
began  early  to  study  with  his  father,  for  the  "Madonna  and  Child" 
in  Basel  Gallery  was  painted  in  1514.  when  he  was  but  seventeen 
years  old.  It  presents  the  holy  pair  enthroned  in  a  Renaissance 
loggia,  surrounded  by  small,  hovering  angels  who  fill  the  air  with 
music  or  who  sadly  bear  the  instruments  of  the  Christ's  future 
sufferings.  As  might  be  expected,  the  drawing  is  uncertain  and 
hard,  but  the  work  is  not  at  all  dry;  the  forms  are  surprisingly 
well  modelled  and  the  colouring  is  warm  and  sunny. 

To  the  next  year,  1515,  belongs  the  "Cross  Bearing,"  in  Carlsruhe 
Gallery,  which  is,  in  general,  so  similar  to  his  father's  various  pic- 
tures of  the  same  subject,  that  some  historians  hold  it  for  a  joint 
work  of  father  and  son.  The  picture  is  so  crowded  with  soldiers, 
sympathisers  and  spectators,  and  so  full  of  movement,  that  the 
effect  is  most  disturbing.  Here  and  there  the  young  Holbein's 
gifts  of  close  observation  and  of  natural  and  beautiful  rendering 
of  materials  are  revealed  in  such  a  figure  as  that  of  the  centurion 
who,   though  his  horse  is  wooden,  is  so  distinguished  in  bearing 

174 


HANS  HOLBEIN  THE  YOUNGER  175 

and  so  stately  in  his  shining  armour  that  he  attracts  and  holds 
our  attention,  or  that  of  the  Lanzknecht  with  the  long,  tossing 
plumes  in  his  cap — a  type  upon  which,  doubtless,  the  elder  Holbein 
looked  unsympathetically,  if  not  scornfully,  as  representing  a 
rough  and  lawless  element,  while  his  son,  of  the  younger  genera- 
tion, found  them  romantic  "Robin  Hoods,"  coarse,  perhaps,  but 
jolly  dare-devils,  who  wore  jaunty  and  picturesque  costumes, 
whose  moods  readily  expressed  themselves  in  face  and  gesture, 
and  who,  therefore,  were  grateful  subjects  for  the  painter. 

Then  the  young  artist  and  his  brother  Ambrosius  set  out  upon 
their  Wanderjahre,  but  they  seem  to  have  settled  down  at  once  in 
Basel  where  Hans  found  immediate  employment  with  the  great 
publisher  Froben — or  Frobenius — who  commissioned  him  to  make 
the  drawings  for  the  illustrations  for  Erasmus's  "Praise  of  Folly,"* 
which  was  then  in  press.  The  illustrations  are  very  simple  and 
without  any  ornamentation  whatever,  but  they  are  full  of  life  and 
oftentimes  very  diverting — especially  the  travesties  of  familiar  scenes 
from  classical  mythology.  Commissions  to  paint  came  to  him  too. 
The  first  of  these,  a  table  top  for  the  Baer  family,  is  done  in  the 
same  spirit  as  the  illustrations  for  the  "Praise  of  Folly"  and  the 
representations  of  sporting  scenes  and  various  other  social  diversions 
reflect  ironically  the  frivolities  of  the  age.  On  its  completion  in  1516 
he  received  from  Baer's  brother-in-law,  the  Burgomaster  Jacob 
Meyer,  a  commission  to  paint  the  portraits  of  himself  and  his  second 
wife,  Dorothea  Kannegiesser,  which  are  now  in  the  Kunstsammlung  in 
Basel.  The  face  of  the  Burgomaster  reveals  energy,  deliberation 
and  sound  judgment;  his  wife's  is  plain  but  attractive  in  the 
kindliness  of  its  expression.  The  colouring  is  not  yet  that  of  his  later 
portraits,  but  is  like  his  father's  last  works,  warm  brown  in  tone. 

In  the  same  year  the  painter  did  a  sign  for  a  school  in  Basel 
which  shows,  on  one  side,  a  schoohoom  in  which  boys  and  girls 
are  receiving  instruction  from  the  schoolmaster  and  his  wife,  on 
the  other,  two  grown  lads  whom  the  schoolmaster  is  teaching  to 
write — two  pictures  of  so  obvious  meaning  as  to  render  really 
unnecessary  the  inscription  which  invites  not  only  children  but 
adults  to  enter  learning's  portals.     The  work  is  done  broadly,  on 

*Myconicus's  copy  of  the  "Enconium  Moriae"  is  in  Basel  Kunstsammlung. 


176  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

close  inspection  it  seems  even  carelessly,  but  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  this  was  a  sign  to  be  hung  out  of  doors  and  not  to 
be  examined  at  close  range.  The  painting  of  this  sign  is  fre- 
quently referred  to  as  though  it  were  an  indignity  that  the  artist 
should  have  had  to  do  such  a  thing.  Undoubtedly  he  was  in 
pressing  need  of  money;  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  painters 
of  coats-of-arms,  emblems  and  signs  were  at  this  time  all  artists  of 
standing  and  members  of  the  Painters'  Guild. 

Mere  studies  from  models  are  the  "Adam"  and  "Eve"  in  Basel 
Gallery,  which  were  painted  in  1517,  before  Holbein  left  for 
Lucerne,  where  he  was  to  paint  the  facade  of  Jacob  Hertenstein's 
house  and  a  room  in  the  interior.  Unfortunately  the  house  has 
been  destroyed,  but  copies  of  the  paintings  which  remain  in 
Lucerne  Library,  and  in  Basel  Kunstsammlung,  give  us  an  idea 
of  the  subjects  and  the  skilful  distribution  of  the  space  in  which 
they  were  presented.  On  the  first  storey  of  the  exterior,  he 
painted  groups  of  allegorical  figures,  on  the  second  a  Roman 
Triumphal  Procession  of  the  character  of  Mantegna's  "Triumph 
of  Julius  Caesar"  in  Hampton  Court.  In  the  interior,  he 
pictured  scenes  from  the  hunt  and  from  other  occupations  of 
patrician  life.  This  early  opportunity  to  do  work  on  a  large 
scale  was  doubtless  of  great  advantage  to  the  artist,  in  helping  him 
to  avoid  hardness  and  painful  minuteness  and  to  acquire  greater 
breadth   of   style. 

After  an  absence  of  two  years,  we  find  him  again  in  Basel 
in  1519,  a  member  of  the  Guild,  and  engaged  upon  the  portrait 
of  Boniface  Amerbach,  the  heir  of  Erasmus  and  the  art  con- 
noisseur whose  collection  forms  the  largest  and  most  valuable 
part  of  the  present  Kunstsammlung  in  Basel.  The  portrait 
presents,  in  profile,  a  young  man  with  regular  features,  pene- 
trating but  kindly  blue  eyes,  abundant  and  rather  long  hair 
partly  covered  by  a  cap,  fine  mouth  and  short,  curly  beard; 
beside  him  is  a  tree  trunk  on  which  hangs  a  descriptive 
inscription.  The  personal  appearance  and  expression  are  most 
lifelike,  the  colouring  refined  and  attractive.  But,  more  than 
this,  the  whole  picture,  with  its  blue  sky  and  big  tree  trunk 
possesses  a  poetic  quality  which  lifts  it  above  the  mere  record 


HANS  HOLBEIN  THE  YOUNGER  177 

of  a  physical  presence.  It  is  the  first  intiniatioii  of  the  artist's 
'^  supreme  gift,  which  was  to  be  revealed  more  fully  in  those  later 
portraits  in  which  the  pure  beauty  caught  in  material  things, 
the  texture  of  the  skin,  hair  and  beard,  the  shimmer  or  the 
lustre  of  lawn,  silk  and  fur,  the  glow  of  brass,  the  transparency 
of  glass  and  water,  the  dewiness  of  a  flower,  the  exquisite  depth 
and  luminosity  of  colours  melting  into  one  another  in  perfect 
harmony,  has  the  effect  on  the  senses  of  an  intoxicating  perfume, 
a  strain  of  enchanting  music. 

Holbein  appears  now  to  have  decided  to  settle  definitely  in 
Basel,  for  the  next  year,  1520,  he  became  a  citizen  and  mar- 
ried a  wife.  Many  commissions  similar  to  the  one  he  had  filled 
in  Lucerne  came  to  him,  of  which  we  can  learn  now  only  from 
the  drawings,  which  show  that  he  created  in  the  space  to  be 
filled,  remarkable  illusions  of  elaborate  and  beautiful  architectural 
constructions,  in  which  settings  he  painted  scenes  from  history 
and  from  daily  life.  Evidently  his  reputation  was  already  firmly 
estabhshed,  for  he  was  chosen  by  the  City  Council  to  decorate 
the  walls  of  its  Council  Chamber  with  frescoes  illustrating  the 
judgments  of  great  judges,  tales  of  whose  self-sacrificing  devotion 
to  justice  have  been  handed  down  in  history  and  legend.  These 
frescoes  have  unfortunately  perished. 

But  with  all  his  work  on  portraits  and  allegorical  and  histor- 
ical subjects,  Holbein  did  not  cease  to  paint  pictures  with 
religious  subjects.  To  these  early  years  in  Basel  belong  two 
series  of  scenes  from  the  Passion.  The  first  cycle,  which  is 
superficially  painted,  was  probably  done  hastily "  for  purposes  of 
temporary  decoration,  as  for  a  church  in  Passion  Week,  or  to 
take  the  place  of  a  Passion  Play.  "The  Last  Supper,"  and  "The 
Scourging,"  in  this  series,  were  each  catalogued  by  Amerbach 
"one  of  H.  Holbein's  earliest  works."  The  eight  pictures  in  the  second 
series  were  painted  in  the  years  1520  and  1521  and  are  done  in  the 
manner  of  the  "Cross  Bearing,"  of  1515.  The  "Crucifixion"  intro- 
duces a  particularly  beautiful  figure  in  the  mourning  woman,  to  the 
left  in  the  foreground,  whose  bearing  in  her  grief  is  so  nobly 
restrained.  The  "Entombment"  is  uncompromising  in  its  realism; 
the  face  of  the  Christ  bears  all  the  traces  of  his  recent  agony; 


178  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

all  beauty  is  sacrificed  to  the  convincing  presentation  of  suffering. 
Still  more  realistic  is  the  "Christ  in  the  Grave,"  in  which  the 
slender,  finely  modelled  body  lies  rigid  on  a  bier,  the  muscles 
still  twisted,  the  wounds  swollen,  the  eyes  staring,  the  mouth 
open,  every  feature,  every  moment  of  his  suffering  mercilessly 
impressed  on  us. 

In  two  of  the  scenes  a  new  influence  is  marked,  that  of 
Matthaus  Griinewald,  and  as  we  stand  before  the  snow-capped 
mountains  in  the  "Bearing  the  Cross,"  or  are  made  to  realise  the 
supernatural  by  the  mysterious,  weird  light  shed  upon  Christ  and 
the  disciples  by  the  luminous  angel  hovering  over  them  in  the 
"  Garden  of  Gethsemane,"  we  recall  that  Holbein  the  Elder  visited 
Isenheim  in  those  last  hard  years  of  his  earthly  pilgrimage,  and 
are  convinced  that  the  younger  Hans  did  not  fail  to  follow  in 
his  footsteps  and  see  for  himself  the  great  altar  there. 

Again  we  feel  that  influence  in  the  "  Holy  Night "  and  "  Adoration 
of  the  Kings,"  in  the  University  Chapel  in  Freiburg  Cathedral, 
whither  they  were  brought  from  Basel  after  the  Reformation.  As 
in  Baldung  Griin's  altar  in  the  same  Cathedral,  the  Child  radiates 
a  light  which  illumines  all  about  him,  and  angels  fill  the  sky 
with  brightness  and  colour.  Griinewald' s  influence  on  the  young 
painter  was  not  confined  to  colour  and  light,  however,  but 
makes  itself  felt-  from  this  time  forth  in  a  greater  fullness  of 
form  and  softness  of  contour,  in  a  forsaking  of  the  fine,  careful, 
"goldsmith's"  manner  of  so  many  of  the  German  artists,  for 
the  method  of  the  painter  who  thinks  in  colour  and  models  in 
light  and  shade. 

From  this  period  date  the  shutters  for  the  organ  in  Basel 
Cathedral — now  in  the  Kunstsammlung — on  which  are  painted  in 
brown  on  brown,  so  that  they  are  like  beautiful  statues  carved  in 
wood.  Emperor  Henry  H,  bearing  a  model  of  the  Cathedral, 
Empress  Kunigunde  in  the  pose  she  assumes  on  so  many  Gothic 
portals,  the  Virgin  as  a  stately,  gracious,  compassionate  Mater 
Misericordia,  St.  Pantalus  and  music-making  angels. 

Meanwhile  Erasmus  had  come  to  Basel  and  was  living  with 
his  publisher  Froben.  Naturally  he  became  acquainted  with  the 
artist,  the  friend  of  Froben  and  illustrator  of  his  "Praise  of  Folly." 


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HANS  HOLBEIN  THE  YOUNGER  179 

That  their  intercourse  was  constant  is  evident  from  three  portraits 
Holbein  painted  in  1523,  in  which  the  great  scholar,  the  keen  thinker, 
the  ironical  critic  of  men  and  manners  is  made  to  live  before  our  very 
eyes.  The  portrait  in  Longford  Castle  presents  him  in  front  of  a 
green  curtain  and  book  shelves;  he  wears  a  fur-trimmed  coat  and  a 
Doctor's  cap.  In  the  Louvre  portrait  we  see  him,  again  with  a 
green  curtain  as  background,  writing  at  his  desk;  the  hands  are 
slender  and  finely  veined,  a  vestige  of  a  smile  plays  about  the  thin 
lips.  The  Basel  portrait,  which  is  painted  on  paper,  is  quite 
similar  to  the  one  in  the  Louvre,  but  the  green  curtain  is  plain 
while  in  the  Louvre  picture  it  is  flowered.  A  fourth  portrait,  in 
Carlsruhe,  is  a  replica  of  the  one  in  Basel. 

From  1526  date  the  two  half-length  portraits  of  Dorothea 
Offenburg  of  Basel,  which  are  now  in  the  Kunstsammlung  there. 
In  the  one  she  appears  as  Lais  Corinthiaca,  in  a  rich  costume  of 
the  period;  in  the  other,  in  a  very  similar  robe,  as  Venus,  with, 
beside  her,  a  little  Amour  with  an  arrow.  The  exquisite  rendering 
of  the  materials  in  the  garments  and  the  rich  colouring  lend  these 
pictures  a  beauty  which  is  not  in  the  subject. 

In  the  same  year  the  artist  finished  his  masterpiece  of  religious 
painting,  the  "Madonna  of  the  Meyer  Family,"  now  in  the  Castle  in 
Darmstadt,*  for  one  of  his  first  patrons,  Jacob  Meyer,  who  was,  how- 
ever, no  longer  Burgomaster  of  Basel,  probably  for  the  reason 
that  he  belonged  to  the  Roman  Catholic  minority  in  the  Ref- 
ormation movement.  The  picture  presents  the  Virgin,  wearing  a 
deep  blue  robe  with  a  red  girdle,  her  pale  green  mantle  thrown 
back  so  that  the  dignity  of  the  form,  the  calm  restfulness  of  the 
pose  shall  be  revealed,  standing  in  a  shell-like  niche,  holding  the 
Babe  who  leans  his  head  on  one  little  hand  against  her  breast, 
while  he  extends  the  other  to  bless  the  kneeling  family.  The 
Virgin  is  of  considerable  beauty  of  feature,  but  her  greatest  charms 
are  her  noble  serenity  and  the  gentleness,  tenderness  and  bene- 
ficence of  her  expression.  To  the  right,  kneel  the  women  of 
Meyer's  family;  to  the  left,  Jacob  Meyer  himself,  in  a  fur- trimmed 
mantle,  stalwart,  sincere,  earnest  and  devout;  in  front  of  him  his 
son,  a  graceful  youth  whose  arms  are  around  a  small,  nude,  baby 

*  An  excellent  old  copy  is  in  Dresden  Gallery. 


180  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

brother,  lovely  as  a  little  cupid,  who  seems  barely  old  enough  to 
learn  to  walk.  The  picture  has  none  of  the  stiffness  common  to 
votive  pictures,  but  might  be  a  free  though  exalted  rendering  of 
a  family  at  prayer.  The  harmony  of  the  deep,  clear,  glowing 
colours,  so  perfectly  blended  in  the  cool  lighting  of  the  closed 
room,  is  of  marvellous  beauty. 

When  he  had  finished  this  Madonna  picture,  Holbein  decided 
upon  a  visit  to  England,  moved  thereto,  doubtless,  by  Erasmus's 
descriptions  of  the  brilliant  life  at  the  court  of  a  king  who  was  an 
interested  and  generous  patron  of  arts  and  letters.  He  set  forth, 
therefore,  armed  with  a  letter  of  introduction  from  Erasmus  to  Petrus 
Aegidius  in  Antwerp  asking  him  to  introduce  the  German  to  Quentin 
Massys,  then  the  greatest  artist  in  the  Netherlands,  and  one  to  his 
particular  friend  in  England,  Sir  Thomas  More,  who  received  the 
artist  as  his  guest  and  of  whom  he  painted  the  first  portrait  done  by 
him  in  England.  It  presents  the  statesman  and  scholar,  in  life 
size,  half  length,  one  hand  resting  in  the  other  and  lightly  holding 
a  paper.  The  face  is  strong,  the  gaze  of  the  large,  brown  eyes 
direct  and  honest,  the  whole  attitude  of  body  and  mind  honour- 
able and  distinguished. 

A  second  portrait,  and  perhaps  the  best  of  all  those  done  during 
this  visit  to  England,  is  that  one  of  Warham,  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  at  seventy-one  years  of  age,  which  still  hangs  in 
Lambeth  Palace.  It  presents  him  in  his  robes,  a  white  cotta 
over  a  scarlet  cassock,  and  about  his  throat  a  great  fur  collar. 
The  face  is  long  and  thin,  the  firm  lips  are  tightly  set,  the  eyes, 
rather  sunken,  look  thoughtfully  into  the  distance.  It  is  a  face 
that  speaks  of  strength,  decision  and  scholarship,  as  the  attitude 
reveals  dignity  and  authority. 

Nor  were  the  Germans  in  London  unmindful  of  the  presence 
of  their  great  countryman.  From  1528  dates  the  portrait  of  the 
astronomer  Nicholas  Kratzer  of  Munich,  a  homely  man  with  a  very 
large  nose  and  small  bright  eyes,  who  is  characterised  as  determined 
and  persistent. 

In  this  year  Holbein  returned  to  Basel,  to  his  family  and  friends, 
leaving  in  England  not  only  these  finished  pictures  but  many  draw- 
ings for  portraits  which  are  now  in  Windsor  Castle. 


HANS  HOLBEIN  THE  YOUNGER  181 

Upon  his  return  to  Basel  the  City  Council  commissioned  him 
to  paint  on  the  remaining  wall  of  the  Council  Chamber,  two  scenes 
from  the  Old  Testament,  "Rehoboam  Threatening  the  Elders  of 
Israel"  and  "Samuel  Reproving  Saul  with  the  Message  from  Jeho- 
vah, 'Obedience  is  better  than  Sacrifice."*  These  frescoes,  too,  have 
disappeared  but  the  drawings  in  Basel  Kunstsammlung  permit  us 
to  know  the  composition  of  the  pictures.  In  the  former,  Rehoboam 
sits  enthroned  in  a  Renaissance  hall;  behind  a  balustrade  are  the 
Elders  toward  whom  the  King  leans  with  clenched  fist,  uttering  his 
threat  with  great  vigour  and  passion.  In  the  background  the  ten 
tribes  are  crowning  Jeroboam  King.  It  is  a  finely  unified  historical 
picture.  The  other  scene  shows  Samuel,  a  mighty  prophet  form, 
advancing  across  a  plain  to  meet  Saul,  who  is  approaching  with  a 
great  army.  Unity  is  lacking  in  the  picture  owing  to  the  absence 
of  any  central  point  of  compelling  interest,  and  the  impressiveness 
of  the  figure  of  Samuel  sinks  into  insignificance  beside  the  army 
opposed  to  it  in  the  composition. 

During  this  stay  in  Basel  the  artist  painted  the  portrait  of  his 
wife  and  two  children  which  is  in  the  Kunstsammlung  there.  Frau 
Holbein's  features  are  not  beautiful,  and  the  eyelids  are  strangely 
reddened  as  if  by  weeping,  but  the  strength  and  repose  in  her 
personality  are  attractive  and  there  is  an  appealing  touch  in 
the  motherly  tenderness  with  which  she  holds  her  little  daughter 
tightly  in  her  left  arm,  while  her  right  hand  rests  on  the  shoulder 
of  the  handsome  little  son  who  stands  beside  her. 

To  this  sojourn  we  also  owe  the  miniature  of  Melanchthon, 
in  Hanover  Museum,  and  the  portraits  of  Erasmus  in  Parma  and  in 
Basel,  which  were  probably  done  from  former  studies,  however,  as 
Erasmus  was  not  in  Basel  at  this  time,  but  had  gone  to  Freiburg  to 
escape  the  agitation  of  the  Reformation,  which,  in  Basel,  was  assum- 
ing almost  the  character  of  a  revolution.  Nor  was  it  an  atmos- 
phere in  which  a  painter  could  work.  Men  were,  in  the  main,  too 
much  occupied  with  the  burning  questions  of  the  day  to  sit  for 
portraits,  and  religious  representations  were  held  in  abhorrence 
as  idolatrous.  Holbein  decided  to  flee  from  it  to  England,  where 
in  1529,  his  friend  Sir  Thomas  More  had  succeeded  Cardinal  Wolsey 
as  Lord  High  Chancellor.     But  by  the  time  he  reached  London, 


182  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

in  1532,  More  had  fallen  into  disfavour  and  could  do  nothing  for  him 
at  court.  The  artist's  coming  was  welcomed,  however,  by  the 
German  merchants  of  the  Steelyard,  who  at  oiice  accorded  him  an 
enthusiastic  patronage,  so  that,  before  the  close  of  the  year,  he  painted 
portraits  of  three  members  of  that  circle — those  of  Hans  of  Ant- 
werp, the  Goldsmith,  in  Windsor  Castle;  "A  Young  Man,  aged 
29,"  in  Vienna;  and  Georg  Gisze  from  Danzig,  in  Berlin  Gallery. 

The  Gisze  portrait  is  a  masterpiece.  It  presents  the  handsome 
young  merchant  wearing  a  black  cap  which  partly  covers  his  thick 
brown  hair,  a  coat  of  red  silk  over  a  chemisette  of  fine  white  lawn, 
a  black  cloak  and  large  collar  of  black  fur.  He  is  seated  at  a  table 
in  his  counting  house  and  in  the  act  of  opening  a  letter,  when, 
as  if  addressed,  he  has  paused  and  raised  his  eyes  to  the  spec- 
tator. On  the  table  with  the  Persian  cover  are  writing  materials, 
a  clock  and  a  Venetian  glass  vase  with  carnations;  on  the  walls 
of  the  room  are  a  brass  twine  holder,  keys,  scales,  letters,  and  on  a 
shelf,  a  large  book  in  leather  binding.  The  vase  and  flowers, 
the  brasses,  the  table  cover  and  all  the  other  still-life  details  are 
done  with  exquisite  fineness  and  create  such  a  beautiful  colour  har- 
mony in  the  soft,  indoor  light,  that  this  corner  of  the  room  would 
make,  in  itself,  a  picture  of  rare  loveliness.  Yet  these  details  are 
not  given  pre-eminence,  and  their  beauties  only  come  to  our  atten- 
tion as  accessories  to  the  lifelike  central  figure,  so  youthful,  so  soft 
in  contour  and  fresh  in  colouring,  yet  so  serious  and  so  dignified 
in  bearing. 

The  next  year  the  artist  was  called  upon  to  design  for  the 
Steelyard  merchants  a  reviewing  stand  for  the  festivities  on  the 
occasion  of  the  coronation  of  Anne  Boleyn.  From  the  drawing,  in 
the  Weigel  Collection,  Leipsic,  we  learn  that  it  was  conceived  as  a 
Triumphal  Arch,  with  a  fountain  at  the  top.  In  the  centre,  on  a 
mountain,  as  it  were,  sits  Apollo;  at  his  feet  is  Calliope  and  on 
either  side  are  four  muses. 

The  merchants  then  commissioned  him  to  decorate  the  walls 
of  their  "Gold  Hall"  with  scenes  setting  forth  the  "Triumph  of 
Riches"  and  the  "Triumph  of  Poverty."  The  sketches,  in  the 
Louvre,  show  that  these  were  allegorical  pictures  similar  in  composi- 
tion to  the  Roman  Triumphal  Processions. 


Photograph  by  Franz  Hanfitaengl 


HANS  HOLBEIN  . 

"  Portrait  of  Georg  Gisze 
kaiser  friedrich  museum,  berlin 


Photograph  by  Franz  Hanfstaengl 

HANS  HOLBEIN 

Christine,  Princess  of  Denmark  and  Widow  of 
Francesco  Sforza,  Duke  of  Milan  • 
national  gallery,  London 


HANS  HOLBEIN  THE  YOUNGER  183 

Though  the  painter  was  so  busy  with  commissions  from  the 
Company,  he  did  not  cease  painting  portraits  for  individual  members 
of  it.  To  this  year  belong  the  portraits  of  "A  Man,  Aged  32,'* 
in  Brunswick,  "Dirk  Tybis,"  in  Vienna,  "Dirk  Born,"  in  Windsor 
Castle,  with  a  replica  in  Munich  Pinakothek,  and  "A  Young  man," 
in  Berlin  Gallery. 

So  many  beautiful  works  could  not  fail  to  draw  the  attention 
of  court  circles  once  more  to  the  artist,  and  in  this  same  year  he 
painted  the  portrait  of  the  royal  falconer,  Robert  Cheseman,  a 
rugged,  keen  looking  sportsman,  who  holds  a  hooded  falcon  as  if 
just  about  to  release  it;  and  also,  a  masterpiece,  the  so-called  "Am- 
bassadors," in  the  National  Gallery,  London.  Jean  de  Dinteville, 
Ambassador  from  France  and  his  friend  George  Selve,  Bishop  of 
Lavaur,  who  was  paying  him  a  visit,  stand  together  in  a  room  hung 
with  green  damask  and  paved  with  inlaid  marbles.  In  the  middle 
of  the  picture  is  a  table  with  a  Persian  cover,  on  which  are  various 
astronomical  instruments,  a  celestial  globe,  a  case  of  flutes,  a  lute 
and  an  open  music  book.  Our  senses  are  taken  captive  by  the 
beauty  of  materials  and  colour  in  the  accessories,  but  again  these  are 
merely  contributory,  and  the  first,  as  well  as  the  lasting  impression, 
is  of  the  lifelikeness,  the  dignity,  nobihty  and  reserve  of  the  two 
young  men  portrayed. 

And  now  the  King  himself  gave  the  great  German  the  first 
of  those  many  royal  commissions  which  were  to  keep  him  engaged 
during  the  remaining  years  of  his  life.  He  was  to  paint,  over  the 
fireplace  in  Whitehall,  a  family  group  consisting  of  Henry  VIII 
and  Jane  Seymour,  the  late  Henry  VII  and  his  Queen,  Elizabeth  of 
York.  The  picture  was  so  seriously  injured  by  fire  that  only  the 
figures  of  Henry  VII  and  Henry  VIII  remain.  In  this  fragment, 
as  in  the  miniature  of  Henry  VIII  in  the  Earl  of  Spencer's  collec- 
tion, Holbein  gives  the  despotic,  sensual  monarch  to  the  life,  with- 
out flattery;  yet  he  does  not  portray  him  as  q,  Ubertine,  as  did  some 
of  the  other  artists  who  painted  his  portrait;  he  does  not  fail  to  make 
us  feel  that  he  is  also  a  King  and  one  who  is  not  unaware  of  his 
power  or  blind  to  the  dignity  of  his  position. 

About  the  same  time  as  the  family  group,  Holbein  painted 
the  portrait  of  Jane  Seymour,  in  Vienna,  which  presents  the  Queen, 


184  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

very  simply,  in  half  length,  standing.  But  indeed  a  feeling  of  super- 
fluity would  assuredly  have  resulted  had  any  accessories  been  in- 
troduced beside  the  Queen's  gorgeous  robes  of  cloth  of  silver  and 
purple  velvet,  trimmed  with  rich  lace,  embroidery  and  jewels,  each 
detail  of  which  is  done  with  such  faithfulness  and  delicacy.  In  spite 
of  this  minuteness,  however,  there  is  nothing  small  or  hard  about 
the  picture.  The  Queen,  nobly  modelled,  stands  there  as  in  life, 
looking  out  upon  the  world  calmly,  with  clear,  frank  eyes,  her  lips 
set  firmly,  yet  revealing  kindliness  and  a  sense  of  humour;  to  all 
appearances,  a  sane,  sweet-natured  woman,  not  wilful  or  of  too 
positive  a  personality.  As  if  to  convey  more  fully  this  im- 
pression, the  colouring  is  cool,  the  flesh  tones  very  clear,  with  grey 
shadows. 

After  Jane  Seymour's  death  in  the  next  year,  the  painter  went 
to  Brussels  at  the  request  of  the  King  to  paint  the  portrait  of 
Christine  of  Denmark,  the  sixteen-year-old  widow  of  the  Duke  of 
Sforza,  in  whom  Henry  VIII  saw  her  possible  successor.  The 
portrait,  which  is  now  in  the  National  Gallery,  presents  a  tall, 
slender,  young  woman  in  black,  with  big,  innocent  eyes  and  child- 
like, almost  appealing  expression.  But  the  King's  wooing  proved 
unsuccessful,  so  Holbein  was  again  dispatched  to  Flanders,  to 
paint  for  him  the  portrait  of  Anna  of  Cleves,  marriage  with  whom 
was  so  strongly  advocated  by  his  Protestant  counsellors.  The 
future  Queen  is  pictured  wearing  a  rich,  velvet  robe  of  brilliant 
yet  deep  red,  with  much  gold  trimming  and  many  jewels.  She  is 
plain-looking,  with  a  large  nose,  dull  eyes,  and  an  expression  of 
countenance  which  betrays  a  degree  of  narrow-mindedness  which 
comes  perilously  near  stupidity. 

While  on  the  continent  this  time,  Holbein  made  use  of  the 
opportunity  to  visit  his  family  in  Basel,  whereupon  the  City  Council 
offered  him  a  pension  and  various  other  inducements  if  he  would 
remain  there  permanently.  Henry  VIII  was  equally  generous, 
however,  and  bestowed  upon  his  painter  an  annual  retainer  of  thirty 
pounds  sterling.  Besides  this,  there  were  many  profitable  commis- 
sions assured  to  him  at  the  English  court,  while,  in  Basel,  condi- 
tions were  still  most  unfavourable  for  the  artist.  Many  of  the 
finest   works  of   art   had   been   or   were   being  destroyed   by   the 


HANS  HOLBEIN  THE  YOUNGER  185 

"picture  stormers/*  whose  procedure  is  described  in  a  letter  from 
Erasmus  to  Willibald  Pirkheimer:  "Smiths  and  carpenters  were 
sent  to  remove  the  images  from  the  churches.  The  roods  and  the 
unfortunate  saints  were  cruelly  handled.  Not  a  statue  was  left  in 
church,  niche  or  monastery.  The  saints  on  the  walls  were  white- 
washed. Everything  combustible  was  burnt.  What  would  not 
burn  was  broken  to  pieces.  Nothing  was  spared,  however  precious 
and  beautiful."  So  the  artist  decided  in  favour  of  England  and 
retiKned  there  in  time  to  paint  a  miniature  of  Anne  of  Cleve's  suc- 
cessor, Queen  Katherine  Howard,  before  her  tragic  end.  Of  her 
uncle,  Thomas  Howard,  he  painted  an  impressive  portrait,  which 
presents  an  elderly  man  of  masterly  carriage,  with  eagle  nose  and 
thin  lips  tightly  set,  as  if  in  grim  determination. 

Yet  another  member  of  the  royal  family  did  Holbein  paint — the 
small  son  of  Jane  Seymour,  afterwards  Edward  VI,  whose  portrait 
the  artist  gave  to  the  King  for  Christmas,  1539,  when  the  boy  was 
little  more  than  a  year  old.  It  is  a  half-length  picture  of  the  babe,  in 
life  size,  wearing  a  red  velvet  dress  with  sleeves  of  gold  brocade,  and 
a  red  hat  with  a  white  ostrich  plume,  and  holding  in  his  right  hand 
a  rattle.  On  the  railing  behind  which  he  is  placed,  is  a  tribute  to 
the  King  in  the  Latin  inscription  which  admonishes  the  boy  to 
"emulate  his  father;  he  cannot  surpass  him  in  any  of  the  ele- 
ments of  greatness;  if  he  can  but  equal  him,  all  the  noblest  wishes 
for  him  will  be  fulfilled." 

Many  of  the  lords  and  ladies  at  the  court  also  sat  for  portraits, 
which  are  now  scattered  throughout  various  galleries  in  England,  on 
the  continent  and  in  America.  Among  them  are  the  portraits  of 
Nicholas  Poyns;  Sir  Richard  Southwell,  the  King's  favourite;  Sir 
Nicholas  Carew,  the  Royal  Master  of  the  Horse;  George  of  Corn- 
wall; Lady  Elizabeth  Vaux;  Sir  William  Butts,  the  King's  physician, 
and  his  wife;  Dr.  John  Chambers;  Lady  Dudley;  the  three-year-old 
Charles  Brandon  and  his  brother  Henry;  Lady  Surrey;  the  Duchess 
of  Sutherland;  Lady  Lester;  John  Poyns;  Sir  Charles  Eliot;  John 
Godsalve,  and  many  others,  among  them  several  that  have  not  yet 
been  identified  with  any  particular  individual  or  given  a  name. 
Among  the  foreigners  at  court  whose  portraits  Holbein  painted 
were  the  young  Dutchman,  Vos  van  Steenwyck,  whose  portrait,  in 


186  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

Vienna,  is  done  in  the  brown  tone  which  marks  it  as  belonging 
to  the  artist's  early  period,  and  the  distinguished  Sieur  de  Morette, 
whose  portrait,  painted  after  1534,  and  now  in  Dresden  Gallery, 
is  one  of  Holbein's  most  beautiful  works.  It  presents,  against  a 
green  curtain,  a  large  man,  with  dark  hair  and  beard  lightly 
touched  with  grey,  dressed  in  black  silk  with  ptiffings  of  fine  white 
lawn  in  the  sleeves,  and  a  fur  collar;  in  his  left  hand  he  holds  his 
gloves,  in  his  right  a  dagger  which  hangs  from  a  chain.  The  model- 
ling of  head  and  hands  is  exquisite,  the  flesh  tones  are  light  and  clear, 
the  presence  is  commanding,  the  glance  compelling. 

Then,  suddenly,  in  the  middle  of  this  his  most  productive 
period,  Holbein  was  stricken  with  the  Plague  and  died  in  1543. 

No  study  of  this  artist  would  be  quite  complete  without  some 
reference  to  his  drawings  for  woodcuts.  We  have  spoken  of  his 
earliest,  in  Basel,  1515,  for  Erasmus's  "Praise  of  Folly."  In  Basel 
Kunstsammlung  are  his  illustrations  for  the  Kebes-tafel — a  picture  of 
all  human  life — which  were  drawn  in  1521  and  used  first  in  Froben's 
edition  of  Tertullius.  He  worked  them  over  during  his  second  stay 
in  Basel,  in  the  years  between  1528  and  1532,  and  they  appeared 
in  their  new  form  in  Froben's  "Curio's  Cornucopia,"  in  1532. 
They  contain  many  antique,  classical  and  mythological  figures,  but 
also  many  scenes  from  the  daily  life  of  the  people,  with  Lanzknechte 
and  peasants.  Ornamented  with  similar  pictures  from  life  are  a 
"Kirmess  Alphabet"  and  a  "Children's  Alphabet."  Of  Bible  illus- 
trations there  remain  ninety-four  pictures  for  the  Old  Testament  and 
twenty-one  for  the  Book  of  Revelations.  Like  all  the  other  artists 
of  the  period,  he  had  a  share  in  the  Lutheran  controversies;  his 
cuts  picturing  the  "Sale  of  Indulgences"  and  "Pedlar  of  Indulgences" 
satirise  the  crying  abuse  of  the  age;  while  in  a  satirical  Passion 
cycle  he  represents  monks  and  priests  as  the  persecutors  of  Christ. 
Perhaps  his  most  interesting  drawings  for  woodcuts  are  those  in  the 
so-called  "Dance  of  Death,"  a  series  of  forty-five  plates  done  in  1536, 
which  picture  Death  overtaking  people  of  all  ages  and  of  all  ranks. 
Kings  and  Emperors,  Popes  and  Cardinals,  must  all  follow  his  sum- 
mons, as  do  the  ploughman  in  the  field  and  the  little  child  in  the 
peasant's  hut.  The  life,  movement  and  dramatic  power  in  these 
small  cuts  are  remarkable,  and  the  atmospheric  quality  obtained  in 


HANS  HOLBEIN  THE  YOUNGER  187 

such  a  landscape  as  that  in  which  the  old  man  is  ploughing  is  rare 
and  seductive. 

Holbein's  claim  to  greatness  must,  however,  be  based  on  his 
portraits.  In  these  his  habit  was  to  seize  the  salient,  fundamental 
characteristics  of  the  people  he  painted  and  to  give  them  di- 
rectly, though  with  reserve.  Imperfections  were  not  exaggerated, 
but  rather  passed  over  in  favor  of  beauty  of  form;  thus  his  por- 
traits, though  natural,  are  all  sufficiently  idealised,  where  neces- 
sary, to  make  them  beautiful  works  of  art  and  not  mere  records 
of  physical  conformations,  peculiarities  or  defects.  The  poses  of 
his  subjects  are  always  natural  and  free — that  also  lay  within 
the  artist's  gift — and  their  personalities  are  revealed  to  us  as  at 
a  casual  meeting  with  a  real  and  living  person;  yet  as  at  a 
casual  meeting,  only,  in  refined  society,  and  not,  as  occasionally  in 
Diirer's  and  almost  always  in  Rembrandt's  portraits,  as  if  we  met 
them  at  a  moment  when,  in  some  spiritual  crisis,  or  under  the 
stress  of  some  overpowering  emotion,  their  very  souls  are  laid 
bare  to  our  gaze.  And  these  cultivated,  reserved  people  are  por- 
trayed in  colours  fresh,  glowing  and  blended  into  wondrous  harmony. 
The  flesh  tones  are  like  life,  the  texture  and  finish  of  materials  are 
exquisitely  given.  The  atmosphere  is  always  that  of  well-bred  ease; 
always  dignified  and  serious,  it  is  occasionally  elevated  to  the 
poetic  by  the  pure,  sensuous  beauty  of  the  colouring.  Unfailingly 
such  harmony  reigns  as  to  bring  to  the  heart  a  sense  of  peace  and 
benediction  and  joy  in  the  beautiful. 


PART    IV 
SCHOOL  OF  NUREMBERG  OR  FRANCONIA 
INCLUDING  TYROL 


CHAPTER  XXV 

THE  TYROLESE  PAINTERS 

Salzburg  and  Vicinity:  Rueland  Frueauf. 

Innsbruck:  Sebastian  Scheel — Paul  Dax. 

Brexen:  Master  with  the  Scorpion — Jacob  Sunter — Andr6  Haller. 

Bruneck:  Michael  Pacher. 

IN  Tyrol  small  schools  of  art  developed  in  the  latter  half  of  the  XV 
century  in  Salzburg,  Innsbruck,  Brixen  and  Bruneck,  each  of 
which  can  boast  at  least  one  interesting  artist,  while  one  of  them, 
Bruneck,  produced  one  of  the  greatest  artists  of  the  century,  Michael 
Pacher. 

In  the  southeast,  near  Salzburg,  in  the  village  of  Grossgmain 
worked  the  painter,  Rueland  Frueauf,  who,  until  recently,  was  known 
simply  as  the  Master  of  Grossgmain,  from  his  altar  in  the  parish 
church  there.  The  panels  remaining  in  the  church  represent,  on  gold 
backgrounds,  the  Presentation,  Christ  disputing  with  the  Lawyers, 
the  Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the  Death  of  the  Virgin.  They 
reveal  an  original  master,  an  interesting  personality.  In  the  Pentecost 
scene,  for  example,  each  of  the  disciples  and  apostles  has  distinct 
individuality,  and,  while  all  are  equally  interested  in  the  miracle,  each 
receives  the  wondrous  descent  in  a  manner  which  is  expressive  of  his 
own  personality.  Some  of  the  figures  and  faces  possess  considerable 
refinement,  others  are  homely  and  coarse.  The  artist  delights  in  the 
bony  structure  of  the  human  frame;  he  models  the  hands  and 
feet  carefully  and  makes  them  prominent  in  his  pictures. 
Swabian  influence  is  evident  in  the  types,  the  simplicity  of  the 
draperies  and  especially  in  the  directness  with  which  the  stories 
are  told.  The  Death  of  the  Virgin,  too,  is  presented  according 
to  Swabian  tradition,  with  the  dying  Virgin  kneeling  in  prayer 
supported  by  a  disciple. 

Four  panels  by  this  master,  in  Vienna  Gallery,  representing  scenes 
from  the  Passion,  which  are  signed  with  the  initials  R.  F.  have  led  to 
his  identification  as  Rueland  Frueauf,  of  whom  it  was  previously 

191 


192  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

known  that  he  painted  frescoes  in  the  City  Hall  in  Passau, 
in  1471. 

A  school  of  but  little  importance  developed  in  Innsbruck, 
where  the  earliest  painter  of  consequence  was  Sebastian  Scheel, 
several  of  whose  works  are  in  the  Ferdinandeum  in  his  native 
town.  The  largest  and  most  interesting  among  them  is  the  altar- 
piece  representing  the  Holy  Kinship,  dated  1517.  It  is  set  in  a 
frame  richly  ornamented  with  arabesques  and  with  half-length 
figures  of  the  royal  ancestors  of  Christ,  in  miniature.  On  the 
base  is  the  sleeping  Jesse,  from  whom  springs  the  genealogical 
tree  of  Christ;  in  the  arch  at  the  top  is  God  the  Father  with 
globe  and  cross,  his  fingers  raised  in  blessing.  The  figures  in 
the  central  section  are  portraits  of  real  people,  dressed  in  the 
costumes  peculiar  to  that  age  and  made  of  the  richest  brocaded 
materials.  There  is  a  strained  intentness  about  their  attitudes 
which  seems  hardly  natural  or  wholly  sincere.  The  children  are 
very  sturdy  in  their  straight,  full  dresses,  but  they,  too,  seem  a 
trifle  self-conscious.  The  two  angels  making  music  in  the  sky  are 
like  those  in  Italian  pictures  of  the  period.  In  the  background 
is  a  city,  set,  like  Innsbruck  itself,  at  the  foot  of  a  mountain. 
The  impression  of  the  whole  picture  is  one  of  over-crowding, 
over-ornamentation  and  sentimental  exaggeration,  an  impression 
which  is  heightened  by  the  intensity  of  the  local  colours. 

A  younger  contemporary  of  Sebastian  Scheel  was  Paul  Dax, 
who  was  a  native  of  Sterzing,  but  whose  life  as  an  artist  was 
spent  in  Innsbruck,  where  he  died  in  1561.  As  no  authentic 
paintings  remain  except  his  portrait  of  himself  in  the  costume  of 
a  Landsknecht,  in  the  Ferdinandeum,  he  is  remembered  chiefly 
as  the  designer  of  the  windows  in  the  Hofkirche. 

In  Brixen  the  chief  treasury  of  art  is  the  cloister  of  the  Cathe- 
dral where  walls  and  ceilings  have  been  frescoed  by  many  [masters, 
who  are  still,  for  the  most  part,  nameless.  Unfortunately  for  all 
purposes  of  research,  these  frescoes  have  been  thoroughly  restored. 
Three  of  them,  representing  the  Crucifixion,  Ecce  Homo,  and  Christ 
disputing  with  the  Lawyers,  were  painted  between  1435  and  1464  by 
a  master  who  has  been  named  by  Semper  "The  Master  with  the 
Scorpion,"  as  this  sign  always  appears  in  his  pictures.     He  seems  to 


THE  TYROLESE  PAINTERS  193 

have  been  more  interested  in  portraying  the  scene  of  the  Crucifixion 
than  any  other,  as,  besides  this  one  in  Brixen,  another  representa- 
tion of  it  from  his  hand  is  in  the  Clerical  Seminary  in  Freising 
and  there  are  two  in  the  Ferdinandeum,  Innsbruck.  They  are  all 
very  similar  in  character;  the  people  are  vulgar,  even  brutal  in 
type,  with  large  features  and  staring  eyes;  the  thieves  are  tied 
to  their  crosses  in  distorted  positions.  The  artist  endeavours 
to  give  a  realistic  presentation,  but  is  so  crude  in  his  methods 
that  he  succeeds  only  in  leaving  an  impression  of  unpleasant 
exaggeration. 

The  works  of  Jacob  Sunter  who,  in  1470,  painted  "The  En- 
tombment," and,  in  1471,  "The  Resurrection,"  in  the  Cathedral, 
have  been  so  retouched  that  it  is  impossible  to  form  any  idea  of 
their  original  qualities.  Two  of  his  pictures,  "The  Adoration  of  the 
Kings"  and  "The  Betrothal  of  the  Virgin"  are  in  the  Museum  in 
Vienna. 

A  Brixen  master  of  the  XVI  century  who  seems  to  have 
worked,  for  the  most  part,  in  Innsbruck  was  Andre  Haller,  who 
painted  two  altar  wings  now  in  the  Ferdinandeum,  on  which  are 
presented  St.  Erasmus  and  St.  Nicholas,  St.  Roch  and  St. 
Sebastian.  The  saints,  who  are  given  standing,  against  a  curtain 
stretched  across  the  gold  background,  are  very  tall  and  large  in  their 
very  full,  elaborately  draped  garments,  but  fail  to  be  imposing  be- 
cause of  over-refined  modelling  and  excessive  sentimentality  of 
poses  and  expressions. 

To  the  neighbouring  town  of  Bruneck  belongs  one  of  the  greatest 
artists  of  the  second  half  of  the  XV  century,  Michael  Pacher,  who  was 
born  between  1430  and  1440  and  died  in  1498. 

In  the  Pacher  family  there  were  three  brothers,  all  artists — 
Michael,  Friedrich  and  Hans.  No  known  work  by  Hans  Pacher 
remains.  Friedrich's  most  important  work  is  an  altar-piece,  repre- 
senting the  Baptism  of  Christ,  which  was  painted  in  1483  for  the 
Hospital  Church  in  Brixen  and  is  now  in  ^  the  Clerical  Seminary 
in  Freising.  But  these  two  drop  into  insignificance  beside  their 
great  brother  Michael.  The  earliest  of  his  works  is  the  "Madonna 
and  Child  with  St.  Barbara,  St.  Margaret  and  Angels"  in  the 
collection  of  Fraulein  von  Vintler,  in  Bruneck.     The  Virgin  and 


194  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

saints  are  so  modelled  as  to  show  the  importance  the  artist  at- 
tached to  the  scientific  side  of  his  art,  but  there  is  no  undue 
emphasis  laid  on  the  bony  and  muscular  structure,  nor  is  it  by 
any  means  the  modelling  that  strikes  us  first  or  impresses  us  most 
in  the  picture.  Rather  is  the  impression  gained  one  of  a  beautiful 
and  stately  company  in  a  mood  of  joyful  exaltation — an  effect 
which  is  heightened  by  the  prevailing  flame-red  of  the  garments 
against  the  gold  background. 

In  the  little  church  in  Mitterolang,  in  the  Pusterthal,  is  the 
artist's  "Holy  Night,"  in  which  the  stable  and  its  manger  are  pic- 
tured in  just  such  a  valley  as  the  Pusterthal.  Weather  beaten, 
kindly  shepherds  have  come  from  the  distant  hills  to  worship  the 
lovely  Babe;  ox  and  ass,  much  larger  than  they  are  given  by  other 
painters  of  the  time,  and  astonishingly  lifelike  in  appearance  and 
expression,  stand  close  by  the  holy  pair.  As  the  picture  has  been 
retouched,  we  cannot  judge  of  its  original  colouring;  the  flame- 
red  of  the  von  Vintler  picture  is,  however,  still  favoured  in  the 
garments. 

The  scattered  wings  of  a  great  altar  which  was  painted  by  the 
master  for  Brixen  Cathedral,  where  it  was  dedicated  in  1491,  have 
been  collected  and  set  up  in  Munich  Pinakothek.  They  present 
four  Church  Fathers  and  four  scenes  from  the  Life  of  St.  Wolfgang — 
Preaching,  Healing  a  Sick  Man,  Compelling  the  Devil  to  hold  his 
Bible,  and  the  Last  Communion.  The  scenes  from  the  life  of 
the  saint  are  pictured  in  varying,  appropriate  surroundings.  Thus 
the  miracle  of  healing  takes  place  in  a  large  room,  with  flat  ceiling, 
lighted  from  the  Gothic  windows  on  the  right.  St.  Wolfgang,  by  his 
touch,  is  restoring  to  health  a  sick  man  who,  looking  up  anxiously 
into  his  face,  is  making  an  effort  to  rise  from  his  couch.  The  in- 
troduction of  the  nude,  as  in  the  body  of  this  man,  is  rare  in  Ger- 
man art  of  the  XV  century  and  again  emphasises  the  artist's  in- 
terest in  the  study  of  the  human  form. 

In  the  Last  Communion,  the  saint,  wearing  his  Bishop's  robes  of 
rich  brocade  and  his  mitre,  has  fallen  on  his  knees  upon  the  steps  of 
the  altar  of  a  simple  little  Gothic  chapel;  he  is  prostrated,  his  face 
buried  in  his  hands,  in  utter  weakness  of  body  and  humility  of  soul. 
Through  the  upper  window  an  angel  has  entered  and  with  out- 

\ 


Photograph  by  Fried.  Hoe  fie,  Augsburg 


MICHAEL  PACHER 

St.  Wolfgang's  Last  Communion 
alte  pinakothek,  munich 


Photograph  by  Fried.  Hoefle,  Augsburg 

MICHAEL  PACKER 

St.  Wolfgang  compelling  the  Devil  to  hold  His  Bible 

altb  pinakothek,  munich 


THE  TYROLESE  PAINTERS  195 

stretched  wings  hovers  above  the  saint,  touching  him  lightly  to  call 
attention  to  the  glorious  golden  pyx  he  holds  in  his  right  hand, 
treasury  of  that  supreme  solace,  that  heavenly  bread  which  whoso 
eateth  thereof  shall  never  himger  more.  But  more  than  by  the  great 
hovering  angel  or  the  shining  sacrament  our  attention  is  held  by 
the  kneeling  figure.  Such  abandonment,  such  utter  prostration  of 
body  and  mind,  such  passionate  abnegation,  almost,  one  would 
say — such  despair! 

Directly  contrasted  with  the  effect  of  subdued  light  in  the  interior  of 
a  room  in  which  these  two  scenes  are  presented,  is  the  bright  sunshine 
which  falls  on  the  street  in  which  is  pictured  St.  Wolfgang  constrain- 
ing the  devil — a  fearsome  devil,  surely,  with  horns  and  hoofs  and 
great  bat's  wings — to  hold  the  Bible  for  him.  Behind  the  two 
imposing  figures  opens  the  perspective  of  a  city  street,  across  which  is  a 
balcony  on  which  three  persons  are  standing,  while  a  man  is  sitting 
below  in  the  shade  of  a  building,  out  of  a  window  of  which 
another  man  is  looking. 

The  Fathers  of  the  Church  are  presented  in  heroic  size,  each 
with  his  symbol,  seated  in  Gothic  niches  which  are  adorned  with 
elaborate  carvings  and  small  statuettes  of  apostles,  each  of  whom 
bears  the  instrument  of  his  martyrdom.  Their  faces  and  hands  are 
painted  with  minute  care  and  are  individualised  in  the  highest  degree. 
The  artist's  conception  of  them  is  of  great  nobility.  True  Fathers  of 
the  Church  are  these,  so  large  and  noble  in  body,  mind  and  spirit 
and  withal  so  human,  so  sympathetic;  great  souls  to  whom  the 
Dove  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  is  hovering  over  them,  can  whisper 
and  be  understood. 

Michael  Pacher's  masterpiece  and  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
and  impressive  single  altar-pieces  of  the  XV  century,  is  the  High 
Altar  in  the  Church  in  St.  Wolfgang,  near  Salzburg,  for  which  he 
received  the  commission  from  Abbot  Benedict  in  1477.  The  shrine 
is  dated  1479;  the  whole  work  was  finished  in  1481. 

The  altar  is  set  in  a  beautifully  carved  Gothic  frame.  In  the 
shrine,  in  wood  carving,  also  from  Pacher's  hand,  is  the  "  Coronation 
of  the  Virgin. "  Very  girlish  and  lovely,  her  long,  wavy  hair  falling 
about  her  shoulders  Uke  a  veil,  the  crowned  Virgin  kneels  at  the 
feet  of  Christ,  who  is  blessing  her.  Graceful,  winged  angels  hold 
her  full,  trailing   robes,  make  music,  or  simply  hover   around   as 


196  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

interested  spectators.  Separated  from  this  central  group  by  finely 
carved  pilasters  like  pinnacles,  are  two  stately  bishops.  Between 
the  shrine  and  the  wings  stand  the  youthful,  finely  modelled, 
knightly  Saints  George  and  Florian.  And  all  these  figures  are 
set  in  niches,  or  under  baldachins  carved  as  finely  and  delicately 
as  lace  work,  marvellously  beautiful. 

Besides  the  carvings  there  are  on  the  altar-piece  sixteen  painted 
pictures  on  the  base  and  in  the  arch.  The  wings  beside  the  shrine 
contain  four  scenes  from  the  Life  of  the  Virgin;  when  they  are 
closed,  eight  scenes  from  the  Life  of  Christ  are  revealed.  When  the 
second  pair  of  wings  is  closed  in  turn,  the  outside  of  the  altar  shows 
four  scenes  from  the  life  of  the  patron  saint  of  the  town  and  church, 
St.  Wolfgang.  On  the  base  is  the  Adoration  of  the  Kings;  above 
the  central  pictures,  Christ  on  the  Cross,  with  four  saints;  above 
that,  God  the  Father,  saints  and  angels. 

The  influence  of  Mantegna  and  his  great  frescoes  in  the  Ere- 
mitani  Chapel  in  the  not  far  distant  Padua  is  evident  in  the  model- 
ling and  perspective.  Figures  and  poses  like  those  of  St.  George 
and  St.  Florian  at  once  call  to  mind  the  Italian  master,  as  do  the 
presentations  of  numerous  figures  as  they  are  seen  from  beneath 
in  foreshortening.  The  types  are  not  Italian,  however;  the  Vir- 
gin and  angels  in  the  central  carved  scene,  as  in  the  pictures, 
are  wholly  German,  and  are  not  idealised,  though  they  are 
tender,  winsome  and  charming.  In  the  Adoration,  angels  play 
in  the  lofts  above,  and  through  the  open  door  at  the  back  a 
glimpse  is  given  of  a  street,  and,  in  the  distance,  of  a  landscape 
with  hills  and  valleys  against  a  patterned  gold  ground.  In  the 
scenes  from  the  Passion  are  some  fine  Gothic  buildings,  in  which 
Michael  Pacher  shows  a  fondness  for  the  coloured  stones  so 
favoured  in  Italy.  The  types  are  all  dignified;  the  tormentors  of 
the  Christ,  though  sinister,  are  not  wholly  monsters.  The  Adul- 
teress before  Christ  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  dramatic 
scenes.  The  humble,  penitent  woman  in  the  beautiful  and 
fashionable  robes  is  given  to  the  life,  as  are  the  threatening 
Pharisees  with  their  evil  faces,  in  such  contrast  to  the  gentle 
Christ. 

Most  beautiful  of  all  are  the  scenes  from  the  Life  of  the  Vir- 


THE  TYROLESE  PAINTERS  197 

gin,  in  which  the  dignified,  gracious  people  are  presented  naturally, 
even  intimately,  yet  always  with  reverence.  In  these,  as  in  the 
other  pictures  of  the  altar,  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  original 
points  is  the  landscape  setting  of  the  scenes,  which  is  always 
among  the  mountains  of  Pacher's  native  Tyrol,  whose  snow-capped 
peaks  are  lighted,  now  by  the  breaking  dawn,  now  by  the 
roseate   sunset. 

Michael  Pacher  was  an  artist  of  large,  dignified,  serene  concep- 
tions who  had  attained  to  such  a  mastery  of  the  technique  of  his 
art — of  composition,  modelling,  perspective  and  light — that  it 
had  become  for  him  a  language  not  wholly  inadequate  for  their 
voicing.  Original  as  he  was  in  all  his  work,  he  was  unique  in  the 
landscape  setting  he  chose  for  his  scenes,  in  the  character  of  which, 
as  in  its  oftentimes  quite  fanciful  lighting,  he  was  the  true  forbear 
of  Altdorfer. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 
UPPER  BAVARIA 

PAINTERS  IN  MUNICH  AND  LANDSHUT 

Munich:    Gabriel      Mochselkirchner — Ulrich     Futerer — Hans      Olmdorfer — 

Jan  Pollack — ^Hans  MielichT— Hans  Schopfer. 
Landshut  :  Hans  Wertinger. 

THE  early  art  of  Upper  Bavaria,  especially  of  Munich  and  the 
neighbouring  towns,  is  the  crudest  in  all  Germany.  The 
series  of  scenes  from  the  Passion  painted  as  late  as  1480  by 
Gabriel  Mochselkirchner  for  Tegernsee  Cloister — two  of  which  are 
now  in  Schleissheim  Castle  Gallery — are  revolting  in  the  coarseness 
of  their  types  and  the  brutality  of  their  conceptions.  The  people 
are  short  and  stocky,  with  thick  noses,  wide  mouths  and  insignifi- 
cant chins.  Their  movements  are,  for  the  most  part,  unpleasantly 
exaggerated.  The  flesh  tones  are  brown,  with  startling,  white,  high 
lights.  There  is  little  colour  in  the  pictures,  as  most  of  the  people 
who  do  not  wear  dingy  brown  robes  wear  white,  and  even  the  sky 
is  cloudy  and  dark. 

A  Crucifixion  painted  about  the  same  date  by  Ulrich  Futerer, 
a  painter  who  worked  with  Mochselkirchner  at  Tegernsee,  reveals 
the  same  coarse  vigour.  In  this  picture  only  the  flesh  is  given  its 
natural  colour,  or  rather  is  tinted  reddish  brown  with  white  lights; 
the  rest  is  done  in  stone-grey  colour  against  a  dark  background. 

Much  more  attractive  is  the  High  Altar  in  the  little  chapel  of  the 
nunnery  in  Blutenburg  near  Munich,  by  Hans  Olmdorfer,  who  was 
court  painter  to  successive  Dukes  of  Bavaria  from  1460  to  1518. 
The  central  section  contains  a  representation  of  the  Trinity,  in 
which  God  the  Father,  on  whose  shoulder  sits  the  Dove,  holds  the 
dead  Christ  in  his  arms  so  that  all  may  see  the  marks  of  his  suffer- 
ing. Angels  look  out  from  the  sky  above  and  kneel  on  the  ground 
below.  On  the  right  wing  is  shown  the  Coronation  of  the  Virgin  by 
the  Trinity,  represented  by  three  men  who  look  exactly  alike;  on 
the  left  wing  is  the  Baptism  of  Christ.     On  the  outer  sides  of  the 

198 


UPPER  BAVARIA  199 

wings  are  St.  Bartholomew,  as  founder  of  the  church,  and  Christ 
as  World-Ruler.  On  two  small  separate  altars  in  the  church — de- 
tached wings  of  the  High  Altar — are  the  Annunciation  and  the 
Adoration  of  All  Saints. 

The  influence  of  the  artists  of  the  Netherlands  is  apparent  in  all  the 
pictures,  though  the  gold  background  is  retained.  The  types  adopted 
from  Dirk  Bouts  and  Hans  Memling  are  coarsened.  The  noses  of 
men  and  angels  alike  are  very  long  with  thick  ends;  their  necks, 
cheeks  and  foreheads  are  much  wrinkled  and  creased.  The  flesh 
tones  are  brownish  with  red  shadows.  All  are  very  vigorous  looking 
and  extremely  serious  in  expression  and  demeanour.  So  much  gold 
is  used  in  the  background,  in  the  brocaded  robes  and  for  crowns  and 
halos  that  the  glitter  is  rather  disturbing.  The  general  effect  of  the 
pictures,  however,  is  festive,  though  it  is  probable  that  they  would  not 
prove  so  attractive  in  any  other  setting  than  the  quiet  of  this  tiny, 
white  chapel  of  the  nuns. 

Hans  Olmdorfer's  portrait  of  one  of  his  ducal  patrons,  Sigmund  of 
Bavaria,  in  Schleissheim  Castle  Gallery,  is  coarsely  painted,  but  full  of 
life  and  expression. 

The  most  gifted  Munich  painter  was  Jan  Pollack,  whose  work 
belongs  to  the  period  of  transition  from  the  XV  to  the  XVI  century. 
His  name  appears  on  the  records  for  the  first  time  in  1484;  in  1488  he 
became  City  Painter;  he  died  in  1519.  The  High  Altar  painted  by 
him  in  1492  for  the  Franciscan  Church  in  Munich,  and  now  in  the 
Bavarian  National  Museum,  represents,  in  the  central  section,  the 
Crucifixion,  with,  on  the  back,  the  Last  Supper;  on  the  left  wing, 
Gethsemane,  with,  on  the  back,  the  Scourging,  into  which  is  introduced 
the  portrait  of  the  donor,  Duke  Albrecht  IV  of  Bavaria;  on  the  right 
wing,  Christ  taken  Prisoner,  with,  on  the  back,  the  Cross  Bearing, 
with  the  portrait  of  the  Duchess  Kunigunde.  The  scenes  are 
crowded  with  figures,  all  of  whom  appear  to  be  constantly  and 
rather  violently  in  motion.  In  such  a  picture  as  "The  Crucifixion" 
a  rather  close  examination  is  necessary  before  the  subject  can  be 
discovered  and  the  various  groups  singled  out.  The  people  are 
crowded  so  closely  about  the  cross  that  it  loses  its  dominant  position 
and  sinks  almost  to  the  level  of  one  of  the  many  incidents  with 
which  the  scene  is  filled.     Attitudes,  characteristics  and  emotions 


200  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

of  every  sort  are  exaggerated  in  the  presentation;  the  bodies  of 
the  thieves  are  horribly  contorted,  the  soldiers  at  the  cross  are 
unreasonably  brutal,  the  men  quarrelling  about  their  dice-throwing 
are  repellent  degenerates. 

Jan  Pollack's  most  important  work  is  the  large  altar-piece  con- 
taining twelve  scenes  from  the  life  of  St.  Peter,  which  he  painted  about 
the  year  1500  for  St.  Peter's  Church  in  Munich.  Five  of  the  wings 
are  still  in  the  church  with  the  shrine,  which  is  filled  with  wood 
carvings;  one  has  been  lost  and  six  have  been  set  up  in  the  Bavarian 
National  Museum.  The  canvases  are  not  quite  so  crowded  as  in 
the  Franciscan  Church  altar,  but  the  unprepossessing  people  are 
just  as  energetic  and  gesticulatory.  The  problem  of  perspective 
seems  to  have  interested  the  painter  greatly  aSd  he  delights  in  giving 
us,  as  in  "  St.  Peter  healing  One  possessed  of  a  Devil,"  a  city  square 
with  a  view  through  an  arcade  into  the  interior  of  a  great  temple; 
or,  in  "St.  Peter  walking  on  the  Waves,"  the  view  across  the  water 
to  distant  towns  on  the  opposite  shore;  or  aerial  perspective,  as  in 
the  large  body  of  Simon  the  Sorcerer  floating  high  in  air  in  the  scene 
in  which  Saints  Peter  and  Paul  bring  about  his  downfall.  The  col- 
ours in  all  the  pictures  are  strong  and  dark  and  so  inharmonious 
that  they  accentuate  the  general  effect  of  over-crowding  and  unrest. 

The  foremost  Munich  painter  in  the  XVI  century  was  Hans 
Mielich — or  Mulich — who  was  born  in  1516,  in  Munich,  and  died  there 
in  1573.  His  first  teacher  was  his  father,  Wolfgang  Mielich,  who  was 
a  well-known  artist  and  head  of  a  large  school,  though,  unfortunately, 
none  of  his  pictures  have  come  down  to  us.  That  Hans  Mielich' s 
travels  as  a  student  took  him  to  Italy,  is  established  by  his  copy  of 
Michael  Angelo's  "Last  Judgment,"  originally  painted  to  hang  in  the 
Frauenkirche  in  Munich  as  a  memorial  to  the  parents  of  Oswald  von 
Eyck,  but  now  in  the  Bavarian  National  Museum.  He  seems 
also  to  have  come  in  touch  with  Altdorfer,  for  his  miniatures  illus- 
trating the  "Penitential  Psalms  of  Orlando  di  Lasso"  and  the  "Motets 
of  Cyprian  de  Rore,"  in  the  Royal  Library  in  Munich,  reveal  a  con- 
stant striving  after  the  Ratisbon  master's  effects  of  light  and  col- 
our. As  a  painter,  Hans  Mielich  was  active  chiefly  as  a  portrait- 
ist. He  presents  his  subjects  naturally  enough,  though  somewhat 
stiffly,  and  his  colouring  is  pleasing. 


Photograph  by  Franz  Hanfstaengl 

JAN  POLLACK 
St.  Peter  Walking  on  the  Waves 
bavarian  national  museum,  munich 


UPPER  BAVARIA  201 

A  contemporary  of  Mielich,  Hans  Schopfer,  who  lived  in 
Munich  from  1532  to  1566,  was  a  prolific  portrait  painter.  The 
people  he  portrays  all  bear  a  singular  resemblance  to  one  another; 
the  flesh  tones  are  pink,  the  eyes  large  and  staring.  A  son  of  this 
artist,  Hans  Schopfer  the  Younger,  continued  to  paint  portraits  in 
his  father's  style  in  Munich  as  late  as  1610. 

In  the  neighbouring  Bavarian  town  of  Landshut  Hans  Wertinger, 
called  also  Schwabmaler,  worked  from  1491  to  1533  as  court  painter, 
first  to  George  the  Rich,  then  to  Ludwig  X  of  Bavaria.  Although 
his  many  portraits  of  noble  personages  of  the  time  are  hard  in  modelling 
and  reveal  no  depth  of  insight,  they  are  superficially  quite  attractive 
in  their  faithful  recording  of  externalities,  in  the  effective  settings 
and  attitudes  of  the  subjects  and  in  the  freshness  of  the  colouring. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

RATISBON 

ALBRECHT  ALTDORFER 

FOR  all  its  political  importance  and  its  imposing  architectural 
monuments,  Ratisbon  could  boast  of  no  great  artist  before 
the  opening  years  of  the  XVI  century,  when  Albrecht  Alt- 
dorfer  established  himself  there  as  painter,  engraver  and  architect 
and,  in  1505,  acquired  citizenship.  That  he  prospered,  we  deduce 
from  his  purchases  of  houses  and  a  garden;  that  he  was  held  in  high 
esteem  by  his  fellow  citizens,  is  evident  from  his  election  to  the 
Inner  Council  of  the  city.  A  devoted  adherent  of  Luther,  he  was 
one  of  the  fifteen  councillors  who,  in  1533,  passed  the  resolution 
adopting  the  Lutheran  form  of  worship  for  the  services  in  the  Ratis- 
bon churches.     He  died  in  1538. 

Of  his  life  and  studies  before  1505  we  know  little.  An  Ulrich 
Altdorfer  is  mentioned  as  a  painter  in  Ratisbon  in  1478;  doubtless 
he  was  the  father  of  Albrecht  and  his  first  teacher.  His  wander- 
ings as  a  student  seem  to  have  taken  him  to  Diirer,  for  the  influence 
of  the  Nuremberg  master  on  the  development  of  his  art  is  very 
marked.  That  a  lasting  friendship  was  established  between  the 
two  artists  would  appear  from  Heller's  record  that,  in  the  collection 
of  the  Nuremberg  print-dealer  Frauenholz,  in  1822,  there  was  a 
red  crayon  drawing  of  an  old  man  by  Albrecht  Diirer  which  bore 
an  inscription  to  the  effect  that  it  had  been  presented  by  him  to 
Altdorfer  at  Ratisbon  in  1509.  Then,  having,  as  it  were,  formed 
his  style  upon  Diirer's,  ** Little  Albrecht,"  as  he  is  sometimes 
called  to  distinguish  him  from  the  great  Albrecht  of  Nuremberg, 
came  under  the  magic  charm  of  Griinewald's  colour  and  light.  So 
far,  the  history  of  his  development  is  the  same  as  that  of  the 
Strassburg  master  Hans  Baldung  Griin.  Indeed  these  two  painters 
suggest  each  other  frequently,  in  the  fulness  of  their  forms,  the 
poetry  of  their  conceptions,  in  a  certain  fancifulness  and  in  their 

202 


Photograph  by  the  Berlin  Photographic  Society 

ALBRECHT  ALTDORPER 

Satyr  Family  in  a  Landscape 

kaiser  friedrich  museum,  berlin 


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Photograph  by  Franz  Hanfstaengl 


ALBRECHT  ALTDORFER 

St.  George  in  a  Beech  Forest 

ALTE   PINAKOTHEK,    MUNICH 


ALBRECHT  ALTDORFER  203 

effects  in  colour  and  light.  Altdorfer  is,  however,  incomparably 
more  positive  in  his  nature  and  gifts  than  Baldung,  more  origi- 
nal, creative  and  virile.  He  is  not  merely  fanciful,  but  genuinely 
imaginative  and  is  possessed  of  a  depth  of  insight  and  power  of 
realistic  representation  which  enable  him  at  times  to  reach  the 
heights  of  tragedy. 

Altdorfer's  earliest  dated  paintings  were  done  in  the  year 
1507.  The  "Satyr  Family,"  in  Berlin  Gallery,  painted  in  that  year, 
presents,  against  a  grove  of  trees  whose  leaves  the  sunlight 
touches  into  quivering,  shimmering  brightness,  a  seated  group  of 
a  satyr  and  a  nude  woman  with  full,  rounded  form,  and  a  chubby 
babe  who  is  reaching  out  energetically  toward  one  of  the  tall 
flowers  that  grow  all  about  them.  A  nude  man  is  wading  in  a 
stream  that  flows  through  an  opening  between  the  trees  to  the 
right.  Through  this  clearing  can  be  seen  a  wide  stretch  of 
country  with  towering  rocky  peaks  in  the  background. 

The  landscape,  which  in  the  "Satyr  Family"  is  barely  secondary 
in  interest  to  the  human  element,  becomes  the  real  theme  of  the 
little  picture,  "St.  George  and  the  Dragon,"  in  Munich  Pinakothek, 
painted  in  1510.  A  veritable  fairy  forest  is  before  us;  elusive,  en- 
chanting lights  and  shadows  play  among  the  trees  whose  leaves  are 
shining  bronze-green  in  the  sunlight.  St.  George  in  his  golden 
armour,  mounted  on  a  white  charger,  is  but  an  enlivening  detail  of 
the  landscape. 

Near  this  picture  in  the  Pinakothek  hangs  one  of  the  same  size 
from  which  the  human  element  has  been  left  out;  it  is  the  first  picture 
in  German  art  which  is  purely  a  landscape.  Old  writers  tell  of  other 
landscapes  from  this  artist's  hand,  but  they  have  vanished.  Many 
of  his  backgrounds,  however,  far  from  being  mere  backgrounds 
are  notable  landscapes.  In  the  presentation  of  a  landscape  he 
breaks  away  from  the  old  habit  of  reproducing  it  topographically 
or  geologically — if  I  may  use  the  term — and  treats  it  atmospher- 
ically, giving  us  its  moods,  or  rather,  letting  it  reflect  and  reveal 
the  moods  of  the  people  who  are  pictured  in  it,  or  the  nature  and 
significance  of  the  scenes  for  which  it  is  a  setting.  In  this  he  hints 
at  the  coming  of  those  artists  who  filled  a  place  in  painting  similar 
to  that  occupied  in  literature  by  such  nature  poets  as  Wordsworth 


204  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

and  Shelley,  with  whose  joy  all  nature  rejoices,  in  whose  solemn  or 
pensive  moods  all  created  things  seem  to  bear  "the  burden  and 
the  weight  of  all  this  unintelligible  world." 

From  the  same  year  as  the  "St.  George"  dates  the  "Rest  on  the 
Flight  into  Egypt,"  conceived  with  much  charm  and  tender  play  of 
fancy.  In  the  foreground  is  an  elaborate  Renaissance  fountain, 
beside  which  sits  the  girlish,  round-faced  Virgin,  in  a  simple  costume 
of  the  period,  holding  the  beautifully  formed,  nude  Babe  so  that  he 
can  splash  with  his  hands  in  the  water.  The  aged  Joseph,  in  peas- 
ant's garb,  has  brought  his  hat  full  of  cherries  which  he  now  offers 
to  her,  his  adoring  gaze,  like  hers,  fixed  on  the  Child  who  is  playing 
so  happily.  About  them,  as  playmates  for  the  Child,  are  bewitch- 
ing, sturdy,  small  cherubs,  wearing  short  dresses  and  stiff  little 
wings.  Their  activities  are  varied:  two  are  sitting  on  the  rim  of 
the  fountain,  and  talking  together;  one  is  busy  with  a  long 
stick;  one  is  making  a  great  effort  to  scramble  out  of  the  water;  one 
is  swinging  toward  the  Holy  Child,  with  arms  outstretched  in  loving 
invitation.  The  conception  and,  especially,  the  cherubs,  recall 
Durer's  "Rest  on  the  Flight  into  Egypt,"  in  his  series  of  woodcuts  of 
the  Life  of  the  Virgin.  In  the  background  is  a  ruin,  a  tower  character- 
istically German  in  its  architecture,  a  house  with  high  gables,  a  river 
on  the  banks  of  which  are  hills  covered  with  trees,  and,  in  the  remote 
distance,  mountains  over  which  float  fleecy  clouds.  On  the  base 
of  the  fountain  is  the  inscription:  "Albrecht  Altdorfer,  painter, 
of  Ratisbon,  dedicates  this  gift  with  devout  heart  to  thee.  Holy 
Virgin,  for  the  welfare  of  his  soul." 

To  this  same  period  belongs  the  "Adoration  of  the  Kings"  in 
Sigmaringen  Castle.  Beside  the  ruins  of  a  castle  sits  the  lovely, 
youthful  Virgin,  holding  the  beautiful  Babe,  to  whom  the  three 
kings  of  the  orient,  arrayed  in  robes  of  the  utmost  richness,  with 
fur  and  jewelled  trimmings,  bring  gifts  which  are  not  only  costly 
but  masterpieces  of  the  goldsmith's  art.  Behind  the  little  group 
stretches  a  long  arcade,  the  arches  of  which  are  supported  by 
slender  groups  of  pillars  with  graceful  Renaissance  capitals.  A 
ruined  wall  divides  the  picture  across  the  middle  distance,  thus 
shutting  off  into  the  background  the  retinues  of  the  three  kings. 
Over  the   whole  picturesque  ruin  vines  climb  or  hang  gracefully 


Photograph  by  Franz  Hanfstaengl 


ALBRECHT  ALTDORFER 
Rest  on  the  Flight  into  Egypt 
kaiser  friedrich  museum  berlin 


Photograph  by  F.  Bruckmann  A-G,  Munich 

ALBRECHT  ALTDORFER 

Holy  Night 
imperial  gallery,  vienna 


ALBRECHT  ALTDORFER  205 

pendant.     A  light  haze  seems  to  fill  the  air  and  the  Star  shining 
through  it  bathes  the  scene  in  soft  silvery  light. 

The  remarkable  lighting  in  two  pictm*es  of  the  Nativity,  in 
Bremen  and  in  Vienna,  is  of  exquisite  beauty,  and  lends  a  certain 
effect  of  unearthliness  to  the  scenes.  The  one  shows  the  Virgin 
kneeling  in  a  ruined  castle,  adoring  the  Child.  Only  some  stone 
walls  are  left  standing  and  some  fine  old  doorways,  through  one  of 
which  the  shepherds  are  entering,  carrying  a  lantern.  Overhead 
are  rafters  on  which  tiny  angels  have  alighted.  Several  of  them 
are  proceeding  by  way  of  a  long  ladder  to  come  down  to  the 
ground  on  which  lies  the  Holy  Babe.  Some,  indeed,  have  reached 
his  side  and  kneel  there  in  attitudes  which  are  in  themselves  caresses; 
one,  in  his  haste,  has  tumbled  through  between  the  rafters  and  is 
rolling  on  the  ground;  another  is  hurrying  to  catch  a  bundle  of  straw 
which  one  of  his  little  friends  is  about  to  toss  down  from  the  loft. 
Two  are  half  way  down  the  ladder,  and  Joseph,  at  its  foot,  is  carefully 
holding  his  lantern  high  to  light  them  on  their  way.  One  sturdy 
little  one  on  the  third  rung  from  the  top  has  a  lantern  of  his  own 
which  he  is  holding  so  as  to  light  the  one  who  is  just  starting  out. 
Between  the  rafters  shines  a  crescent  moon.  The  fitful  light  from 
the  lanterns,  together  with  that  of  the  pale  moon  in  a  sky  that  is  full 
of  small  fleecy  clouds,  creates  an  atmosphere  in  which  the  supernatural 
seems  the  natural  and  a  vision  more  to  be  expected  than  a  matter-of- 
fact  reality. 

In  the  second  "Holy  Night,"  in  Vienna  Imperial  Gallery,  dated  1515, 
the  scene  is  also  set  in  a  ruined  castle,  but  the  pavement,  the  doorways, 
and  the  landscape  that  opens  up  in  the  background  are  all  white  with 
snow.  The  Hght  of  Joseph's  lantern  falls  full  on  the  Babe  whom  the 
Virgin  and  two  small,  curly-haired  cherubs  are  adoring,  while  a  third 
perched  on  the  gateway  above,  makes  music  on  his  viol.  From  the 
right,  women  as  graceful  as  BotticelU's  nymphs  are  advancing, 
bearing  gifts;  from  the  background  come  hurrying  cherubs.  But 
the  angels  that  are  on  the  earth  make  no  appreciable  difference 
in  the  number  in  the  countless  host  which  circles  in  the  sky  above, 
filling  it  with  light,  which,  shining  through  the  mists  of  evening, 
takes  on  all  the  colours  of  the  rainbow  and  casts  a  glory  over  the 
whole  scene. 


206  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

In  yet  another  Nativity,  which  forms  a  panel  of  the  altar  painted 
in  1517,  which  is  in  the  Collection  of  the  Historical  Society,  Ratisbon, 
the  scene  is  pictured  in  the  light  of  the  first  rays  of  dawn,  which  are 
spreading  rosily  above  the  distant,  snow-clad  mountains. 

The  "Birth  of  the  Virgin,"  in  Munich  Pinakothek, is  presented  in 
the  subdued  light  of  the  interior  of  a  cathedral.  In  the  nave,  is  set 
up  the  great  canopied  bed,  at  the  foot  of  which  is  a  [little,  wooden 
cradle.  Beside  it  the  nurse  is  seated,  holding  the  Child.  From  the 
foregound  Joachim  is  entering;  through  the  arches  to  the  right  several 
worshippers  are  to  be  seen.  About  the  three  large  columns  in  the 
middle  of  the  row  which  divides  the  nave  from  the  aisle,  a  great  ring  of 
angels,  holding  hands  as  in  a  game,  and  looking,  in  their  robes  of  all 
colours,  like  a  huge  wreath  of  flowers,  are  circling  joyously,  and 
from  the  middle  of  the  circle,  one  large  angel  is  swinging  a  censer 
toward  the  Babe. 

Of  almost  startling  effectiveness  is  the  sunset  over  a  landscape  of 
rare  beauty  in  the  "Recovering  the  Body  of  Quirinus,"  which  is  in 
the  Germanic  Museum,  Nuremberg.  Two  women  and  a  young  man,  all 
three  strong,  muscular  figures,  are  trying  with  considerable  effort 
to  carry  to  a  wagon  which  is  close  at  hand,  the  body  of  the  saint,  which 
they  have  just  taken  out  of  the  broad  stream  into  which  he  was  thrown 
to  die  for  conscience's  sake.  The  banks  of  the  river  are  wooded 
and  the  brilliant,  burning  red  of  the  setting  sun  lights  up  some  of  the 
trees  of  the  wood,  and  streaks  the  water  with  burnished  copper 
tones. 

The  effect  of  the  supernatural  in  "  The  Crucifixion,"  in  the  Ger- 
manic Museum — a  picture  which  is  considered  by  some  critics  Altdorf- 
er's  masterpiece — is  also  achieved  by  the  lighting  and  colouring.  The 
scene  presents,  in  the  centre,  the  cross  of  Christ,  with,  to  right  and 
left,  those  of  the  two  thieves.  An  executioner,  who  has  already  put 
an  end  to  the  sufferings  of  the  two  malefactors,  is  standing  on  the 
ladder  he  has  set  up  against  the  central  cross,  watching  the  death  of 
Christ.  To  the  left  of  the  cross  the  soldiers  are  quarrelling  over 
Christ's  mantle;  to  the  right  are  the  sorrowing  women,  a  group 
presented  with  convincing  reahsm  and  much  dramatic  power.  The 
background  is  intensely  blue  and  the  same  colour  predominates  in 
the  robes  worn  by  the  women  at  the  foot  of  the  cross.     Overhead  is  a 


Photograph  by  Franz  Hanfstaengl 


ALBRECHT  ALTDORFER 

Battle  of  Arbela 
alte  pinakothek,  munich 


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ALBRECHT  ALTDORFER  207 

wild  sky,  with  moving,  black  clouds  from  which  a  rainbow  of  hope 
and  promise  has  burst  forth.  The  whole  scene  is  dramatic  and  in- 
tense, but  over  the  weirdness  of  its  troubled  atmosphere  triumphs, 
in  the  final  analysis,  the  exaltation  of  its  colour  and  light. 

To  its  lighting  and  resultant  colouring  is  due  also  the  tremendous 
impressiveness  of  that  unique  battle  scene,  the  "Battle  of  Arbela," 
which  Altdorfer  painted  in  1529  for  Duke  Wilhelm  IV  of  Bavaria, 
in  the  series  of  famous  battles  painted  for  him  by  various  artists.  This 
"Battle  of  Arbela"  so  captivated  Napoleon  that  he  carried  it  off 
to  St.  Cloud  to  hang  in  his  bathroom,  where  he  could  contem- 
plate it  frequently  and  at  leisure.  Since  its  return  to  Germany  it 
hangs  in  Munich  Pinakothek.  The  moment  pictured  is  that  of  the 
victory  of  Alexander  the  Great  over  Darius  the  Persian;  but  the 
presentaton  is  that  of  a  XVI  century  battle  scene  and  is  so  crowded 
with  the  thousands  of  warriors  who  contend  on  foot  and  on  horse- 
back, that  it  requires  close  examination  to  find  Alexander  in  pursuit 
of  the  fleeing  Darius.  In  the  middle  distance  the  tents  of  the  armies 
are  pitched  near  a  town  with  many  high  towers;  in  the  background  is 
the  sea,  with  rocky  shores.  The  sky  above  is  filled  with  tumultuous 
clouds;  on  high  the  pale  moon  of  Persia  is  waning,  while  out  of  the  sea 
is  rising  in  full  power  and  brilliance,  the  sun  of  Greece.  As  it  shines 
on  the  moving  clouds  they  are  transfigured  by  its  light  and  in  turn 
reflect  their  glory  on  the  hosts  below,  filling  the  whole  picture  with 
Griinewaldesque  rainbow  hues  of  red,  green,  yellow,  blue  and  violet. 
Yet  the  clouds  remain  vaporous  and  the  colours  below  are  not  solid 
but  give  the  effect  of  such  reflections  as  are  cast  by  stained  glass 
windows  on  the  faces  of  those  beneath  them.  To  appreciate  to 
the  full  the  light  and  colour  in  Altdorfer's  picture  it  is  only 
necessary  to  look  for  a  moment  at  another  battle  scene  from  the 
same  series,  which  was  painted  for  Duke  Wilhelm  by  Altdorfer's 
pupil,  Melchior  Feselen,  and  hangs  in  the  Pinakothek,  near  the 
"Battle  of  Arbela."  Feselen  has  striven  to  imitate  his  master's 
effects,  but  without  his  gifts;  his  rainbow  hues  create  no  illusion;  they 
are  nothing  more  than  solid,  flat  streaks  of  colour  laid  on  the  canvas. 

Altdorfer's  interest  in  his  other  art  of  architecture  is  revealed 
by  his  fondness  for  introducing  great  halls  or  palaces  into  his  pic- 
tures.    In  the  "Susanna  at  the  Bath,"  in  Munich  Pinakothek,  the 


208  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

theme  of  the  picture  is  almost  lost  sight  of,  so  dwarfed  is  it  by  the 
enormous  Renaissance  building  which  takes  up  half  the  canvas. 
All  the  exquisite  beauty  of  the  picture  is  concentrated,  however, 
in  that  garden  to  the  left,  in  which  Susanna's  toilet  is  being  made 
by  her  tiring- women.  Beautiful  trees  form  a  cool  background  for 
her,  and  all  about  her  bloom  numberless  poppies,  buttercups,  cow- 
slips, snapdragons,  violets,  forget-me-nots,  blue-bells  and,  beside  the 
steps  to  the  castle  terrace,  stately  hollyhocks,  all  done  with  the  lov- 
ing care  of  a  miniaturist  and  with  a  naturalness  not  to  be  surpassed 
even  by  painters  who  devote  their  art  exclusively  to  the  painting 
of  flowers. 

Another  imposing  monument  of  architecture  is  the  palace  which 
is  given  with  such  careful  detail  in  the  picture  of  * 'Riches  and  Pov- 
erty," in  Berlin  Gallery,  which  was  painted  in  1531  as  an  illustration 
of  the  proverb,  "The  beggar  sits  on  the  courtier's  train."  Down 
the  wide  steps  which  form  the  approach  to  the  palace,  walks  a  man 
in  gorgeous  array,  to  welcome  the  two  handsomely  dressed  guests 
who  are  advancing  through  the  park.  On  the  long  trains  of 
their  velvet  mantles  sits  a  whole  family  of  "hangers  on."  The 
scene  is  pictured  cheerfully,  in  the  full  light  of  mid-day;  it  is  cul- 
turally interesting,  as  well,  as  an  illustration  of  the  social  life  of  the 
period. 

Altdorfer's  fame  rests  not  only  on  his  paintings,  however,  but 
on  his  engravings,  woodcuts  and  drawings  as  well.  In  his  engrav- 
ings of  classical  and  mythological  scenes  he  seems  to  have  given  the 
preference  to  subjects  that  gave  him  an  opportunity  to  portray 
the  nude  human  form.  His  religious  scenes  deal  mainly  with  the 
Passion  of  Christ,  and  it  is  in  these  that  we  learn  to  appreciate  his 
dramatic  gifts  and  his  power  of  interpreting  pathos  and  tragedy. 
The  Crucifixion  in  this  series  is  unique  in  conception  and  setting  and 
powerful  in  its  appeal.  The  very  high  cross  on  which  the  Christ 
is  lifted  up,  is  erected  in  a  grove  of  trees,  many  of  which  are  dead, 
their  bare  branches  festooned  with  trailing  moss.  The  body  of  the 
Christ  is  tortured,  yet  not  beyond  all  beauty;  around  his  head  a 
radiance  shines.  The  crosses  of  the  thieves  are  absent;  about  the 
dying  Lord  are  only  his  family  and  friends.  Contrary  to  all 
precedent,  Mary  Magdalen,  a  great  tragic  figure,  is  pictured  stand- 


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ALBRECHT  ALTDORFER 
The  Crucifixion  {Engraving  on  Copper) 


ALBRECHT  ALTDORFER  209 

ing  and  leaning  against  the  cross,  her  bearing  eloquent  of  her 
weariness  and  despairing  grief.  The  whole  atmosphere,  with 
the  troubled  sky,  the  bare  trees,  the  sagging  moss,  speaks  of 
heart-rending  tragedy.  The  visualisation  of  the  scene  is  that  of 
the  poet  in  his  "Ballad  of  Trees  and  the  Master": 

"When  death  and  shame  would  woo  him  last. 
From  under  the  trees  they  drew  him  last, 
Twas  on  a  tree  they  slew  him  last. 
When  out  of  the  woods  he  came." 

Of  his  woodcuts  the  most  important  are  in  the  large  series  repre- 
senting the  Fall  and  Redemption  of  Man.  The  various  scenes  were 
brought  within  the  comprehension  of  the  artist's  contemporaries 
by  being  presented  in  terms  of  the  period  in  which  they  were  living 
and  working.  The  architecture,  costumes  and  types  were  those 
they  saw  every  day  in  the  streets  of  Ratisbon.  The  greater  emphasis 
laid  on  the  structural  in  the  modelhng  of  the  figures,  and  the  presence 
of  such  types  as  the  soldier  in  armour  in  the  Cross  Bearing,  who 
might  have  stepped  out  of  the  frescoes  in  the  Eremitani  Chapel  in 
Padua,  suggest  that  Altdorfer  was,  at  this  time,  feeUng  the  influence 
of  their  great  master,  Andrea  Mantegna.  So  carefully  done  is  the 
mechanical  work  on  these  woodcuts,  that  it  is  generally  believed 
that  the  artist  not  only  made  the  drawings  for  them,  but  himself 
engraved  them. 

Altdorfer's  drawings  vie  in  beauty  with  the  loveliest  of  his 
paintings.  Naturally,  as  one  of  the  famous  painters  of  the  day  and 
Diirer's  friend,  he  was  invited,  in  1515,  to  join  the  noble  com- 
pany of  artists  who  were  engaged  in  illustrating  the  Emperor  Maxi- 
milian's Prayerbook,  Eight  drawings  in  the  Besan^on  fragment 
are  from  his  hand.  But  more  beautiful  are  the  single  sheets  in  Ber- 
lin Print  Room,  the  Albertina,  Vienna,  and  other  collections.  He 
tinted  the  paper  amber,  green,  brown,  dull  blue  or  grey,  then, 
drawing  with  bold  sweep  and  rapid  curve  he  would,  on  one  page, 
merely  indicate  his  subjects,  while  on  another  he  would  give  them 
in  minutest  detail  and  with  wonderful  delicacy.  Of  exquisite 
beauty  is  such  a  drawing  as  "Pyramus  Dead,"  which  is  done  in  black 
and  white  on  a  dull  blue  ground.     The  scene  is  laid  in  a  forest 


210  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

of  larches,  partly  in  light,  partly  in  shadow.  Touched  by  the  slant- 
ing rays  of  sunlight  are  the  stone  arches  of  a  ruin,  all  grown  over 
with  thick  moss  out  of  which  small  trees  are  springing.  In  the  gloom 
of  the  foreground  lies,  on  the  earth,  the  beautiful  young  Pyramus, 
his  handsome  robes  all  blood-stained — alone  and  dead.  In  such  a 
scene  the  artist's  command  of  light  is  almost  as  telling  as  in  his  pic- 
tures. In  the  drawing  of  Gethsemane,  the  troubled  atmosphere 
of  suspense  is  created  by  a  pale  moon  almost  obscured  by  moving 
clouds,  and  the  light  cast  out  into  the  darkness  under  the  trees,  from 
the  lanterns  carried  by  the  soldiers  who  come  to  take  Christ  pris- 
oner. In  the  fitful,  wavering  light,  the  very  tree  branches  seem  to 
shiver  and  the  whole  indecision  and  soul  anguish  of  the  scene  are 
reflected  with  the  most  delicate  sensitiveness. 

As  Cranach  has  been  called  the  Hans  Sachs  of  German  painting 
Altdorfer  might  well  be  named  its  Hans  Christian  Andersen.  He 
tells  his  stories  in  colour  with  just  such  spontaneous  enthusiasm,  such 
an  air  of  probability,  such  fancifulness  and  fertility  of  invention,  such 
touches  of  whimsicality.  But  while  the  atmosphere  of  his  pictures  is 
usually  that  of  a  world  in  which  the  fairies  might  dwell,  it  is  some- 
times— as  in  the  Passion  scenes — elevated  by  the  light  to  lay  bare 
before  us  the  world-tragedy,  to  make  real  and  vivid  the  suffering, 
to  reveal  the  supernatural  character  of  the  supreme  sacrifice,  and, 
above  all,  to  give  a  glimpse  of  the  glory  and  the  promise  at  the  heart 
of  it. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

RATISBON 

THE  PUPILS  OF  ALTDORFER 

Michael  Ostendorfer — Wolf  Huber — Melchior  Feselen 

A  PUPIL  of  Albrecht  Altdorfer,  Michael  Ostendorfer,  became 
a  Master  of  the  Guild  in  Ratisbon  in  1519,  and  died  there 
in  1559.  He  copied  his  master's  lighting  and  colouring  as 
nearly  as  he  could,  without  putting  into  his  pictures  any  of  the  poetry  of 
which  they  should  have  been  the  vehicle.  His  chief  work  was  the  altar 
painted  between  1553  and  1555  for  the  Parish  Church  in  Ratisbon, 
and  now  in  the  Historical  Society's  Gallery.  The  central  picture 
shows  the  Sending  Forth  of  the  Apostles;  the  wings  contain  six  pictures 
from  the  Life  of  Christ  and  six  setting  forth  the  significance  of  Baptism. 
The  composition  is  confused,  the  characterisations  without  subtlety, 
the  colouring  heavy,  the  light  effects  feeble  imitations  of  Altdorfer. 
In  the  same  Gallery  are  his  two  interesting  portraits  of  Duke  Albrecht 
V  of  Bavaria  and  of  "A  Young  Man,"  the  latter  bearing  the  inscrip- 
tion, "Who  knows  what  will  happen!" 

A  pupil  whose  style  resembled  his  master's  closely  was  Wolf 
Huber,  to  whom  Dr.  Schmidt  attributes  the  "Beheading  of  John  the 
Baptist,"  in  theLanna  Collection,  Prague,  which  several  other  authori- 
ties believe  to  be  an  original  Altdorfer.  Huber's  fame  rests  chiefly 
on  his  woodcuts,  which  he  engraved  with  his  own  hand. 

A  third  pupil,  Melchior  Feselen,  who  died  in  1538  at  Ingolstadt, 
was  one  of  the  painters  engaged  by  Duke  Wilhelm  IV  of  Bavaria  to 
paint  battle  scenes  for  his  collection.  The  "Siege  of  Rome  by  Por- 
senna,"  painted  in  1529,  and  the  "Siege  of  Alesias  by  Caesar,"  painted 
in  1533,  both  of  which  are  in  Munich  Pinakothek,  show  very  careful 
work,  but  the  figures  are  wooden  and  the  whole  effect  dry  and  life- 
less. In  his  effects  of  light  he  tries  to  imitate  Altdorfer' s  "Battle 
of  Arbela,"  but  only  succeeds  in  painting  across  the  pictures  strips 
of  various  colours,  which  create  no  illusion  of  vapours,  mists  or 
rainbows,  but  remain,   even  to  the  most  responsive  imagination, 

merely  streaks  of  paint. 

211 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

NUREMBERG 

THE  XIV  CENTURY 

THE  art  of  Nuremberg  is  in  character  almost  antithetically 
opposed  to  the  art  of  Cologne,  while  the  art  of  Swabia  might 
be  said  to  form  a  sort  of  transition  from  the  one  to  the  other. 
For  whereas  the  art  of  Cologne  is  dreamy,  contemplative,  mystic,  the 
art  of  Nuremberg  is  vigorous,  energetic,  dramatic.  The  work  of  the 
Nuremberg  artists  is  inevitably,  therefore,  not  so  externally  beautiful 
and  harmonious  as  the  work  of  the  Cologne  masters,  but  it  is  more 
virile  and  powerful.  The  art  of  Cologne,  with  all  its  beauty,  was  so 
frail  and  lacking  in  vitality,  that  when  the  new  ideals  and  technique 
of  the  art  of  the  Netherlands  impressed  themselves  upon  Germany, 
Cologne  could  not  maintain  its  individuality,  or  even,  for  long,  its 
existence.  Nuremberg,  on  the  other  hand,  possessed  so  much  inner 
life  and  vital  power  that  its  painters  simply  learned  from  the  Nether- 
lands how  to  do  things  better  than  had  been  possible  with  their  limited 
technical  resources;  how  to  give  their  figures  more  body,  to  set  them 
in  space,  to  make  them  more  lifelike  and  expressive.  The  new  art  did 
not  absorb  them  but  only  provided  them  with  fuller  equipment;  in- 
stead of  losing  their  individuality  they  were  enabled  to  give  it  fuller 
expression. 

As  early  as  the  XIV  century  the  rich  and  important  town  of 
Nuremberg  had  developed  within  its  borders  and  attracted  from 
other  and  smaller  towns  many  artists  whose  names,  after  the  lapse  of 
centuries,  have  come  down  to  us  as  mere  names,  whose  works  we  see 
in  the  churches  and  museums  without  being  able  to  attribute  them  to 
any  one  of  the  painters  on  the  long  list. 

The  earliest  painter  mentioned  is  Nicholas  of  Bohemia,  who 
worked  in  Nuremberg  in  1310.  The  praise  of  a  Master  Arnold  was 
sung  by  the  Minnesinger  Egon  of  Wurzburg  in  his  "Castle  of  Minne" 
and  again  by  the  Mastersinger,  Hans  Rosenblut,  as  an  artist  who 

212 


THE  XIV  CENTURY  213 

could  "paint  or  carve  anything  that  can  fly  or  swim.**  Of  the  life 
and  work  of  one  Master  Otto,  the  sole  record  is  that  he  was  ex- 
pelled from  Nuremberg  for  bad  behaviour.  A  Master  Berthold  is 
mentioned  in  1363,  1378  and  1396.  During  the  latter  half  of  the 
century  several  artists  were  engaged  in  the  decoration  of  the  new  City 
Hall,  the  building  of  which  was  finished  in  1340.  Sigmund  Meisterlin 
in  his  "Chronicles  of  the  German  Cities"  records  that  "it  was  beauti- 
fied with  scenes  from  Valerius  Maximus,  Plutarch  and  Aggellio,  illus- 
trative of  the  wisdom  and  justice  of  great  councillors  and  judges, 
which  should  serve  as  an  example  to  all  such.*'  We  find  a  record  of 
the  cleaning  of  these  pictures  in  1378,  and  again  in  1423,  when  a 
Master  Berthold  was  commissioned  to  restore  and  to  add  to  them, 
and  also  to  paint  some  scenes  on  the  outside  of  the  building. 

The  oldest  altar-piece  in  Nuremberg  is  in  St.  Jacob's  Church, 
but  has  been  painted  over  so  often  that  nothing  of  the  original  remains 
except  the  composition.  It  represents  the  Annunciation,  Coronation 
of  the  Virgin,  Resurrection,  Women  at  the  ,Tomb,  twelve  Apostles 
and  two  Prophets. 

From  about  the  middle  of  the  century  dates  the  St.  Martha  Altar, 
which  was  taken  to  the  Germanic  Museum  from  one  of  the  Nuremberg 
churches.  The  central  section  of  the  altar  has  a  most  unusual 
subject,  the  Death  of  St.  Martha,  pictured  as  it  is  described  by 
Jacobus  a  Voragine.  The  legend  relates  that  "in  the  night  before 
the  death  of  the  saint  a  very  high  wind  arose  and  blew  out  all  the 
candles,  whereupon  the  evil  spirits  surrounded  and  so  tormented  her 
that  in  great  anguish  of  spirit  she  called  upon  God  for  help.  Then 
came  to  her  aid  her  sister  Mary  bearing  a  torch  with  which  she 
relighted  the  candles.  And  as  they  greeted  each  other,  Lo!  Christ 
himself  appeared  and  assured  the  dying  saint  that,  as  she  had  received 
him  so  hospitably  on  earth,  even  so  would  he  receive  her  in  Paradise." 
The  picture  shows  us  the  saint  in  bed.  At  the  left,  wearing  a  crown 
and  bearing  a  box  of  ointment,  Mary  is  entering,  bringing  a  candle 
with  which  she  will  drive  off  the  evil  spirit.  From  the  other  side  the 
Redeemer  is  approaching  the  bed,  uttering  the  reassuring  words. 
The  wings  of  the  altar  represent  the  Raising  of  Lazarus  and  Mary 
Washing  the  Feet  of  Christ.  The  outside  is  covered  with  a  decora- 
tive design  of  vines  and  birds.     The  type  presented  has  a  high  fore- 


214  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

head,  broad  nose,  large  eyes  and  short  lower  face.  The  colours  are 
strong  and  dark. 

In  the  church  of  the  neighbouring  Cistercian  cloister  of  Heilsbronn 
are  several  XIV  century  altars,  most  of  them,  unfortunately,  restored 
to  such  a  degree  that  nothing  is  to  be  gained  from  the  consideration 
of  them.  Interesting  and  impressive  is,  however,  the  Christ  as  Man 
of  Sorrows,  presented  with  the  donor,  a  young  cleric  who  holds  a 
scroll  on  which  is  the  prayer  *  *  Miserere  mei  deus. ' '  Above  the  kneeling 
figure,  on  the  decorated  gold  background,  is  a  small  tablet  bearing  his 
name  "Apt  Friedrich  von  Herzlach."  The  records  of  the  monastery 
show  that  the  term  during  which  he  was  its  abbot  extended  from  1346 
to  1361,  during  which  period,  therefore,  this  picture  must  have  been 
painted.  It  presents  the  Man  of  Sorrows,  wearing  a  mantle  which 
covers  almost  his  whole  body,  standing  in  front  of  the  cross  on  which 
are  the  instruments  of  his  Passion.  The  head  and  face  show  a  singular 
combination  of  traditional  and  German  features.  His  body  is  long 
and  slender  out  of  all  proportion;  manifestly  the  artist  was  helpless 
in  face  of  the  problem  of  giving  its  anatomical  structure.  But  in  spite 
of  the  archaic  form  and  technical  weaknesses,  the  picture  makes  a  pow- 
erful sentimental  appeal.  The  pose  of  the  figure  is  eloquent  of  the 
physical  exhaustion  of  the  sufferer;  the  eyes  look  at  us  with  contem- 
plative yet  tender  gaze;  and  the  whole  bearing  is  so  expressive  of 
humility  blended  with  noble  dignity  and  reserve  power,  that  it  con- 
veys the  artist's  ideal  of  the  Christ  who  was  "lifted  up,"  a  sinless, 
vicarious  sacrifice. 

To  the  period  of  transition  from  the  XIV  to  the  XV  century  be- 
long several  Epitaphs,  or  memorial  pictures,  in  various  Nuremberg 
churches.  Among  them  is,  in  the  Lorenzkirche,  the  Epitaph  of  Paul 
Stromer,  who,  with  his  wife,  died  of  the  plague  in  1406.  It  presents 
Christ  enthroned  upon  the  clouds  surrounded  by  angels  who  bear  the 
instruments  of  his  Passion,  while  the  Virgin  and  St.  John  kneel  before 
him,  offering  intercession  for  the  Stromer  family.  The  forms  are 
very  slender,  the  drawing  hard,  the  colours  strong.  An  Epitaph  in 
the  Germanic  Museum  which  was  painted  in  memory  of  Clara  Holz- 
schuher,  who,  according  to  the  inscription,  died  in  1426,  is  a  very 
crude  and  wooden  representation  of  the  Madonna  with  St.  Catherine 
and  St.  Bernhardin  of  Siena. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

NUREMBERG 

MASTER  BERTHOLD 

IN  the  first  half  of  the  XV  century  worked  an  artist  who  occupied 
in  Nuremberg  Art  the  place  filled  in  Cologne  by  the  Master  of  the 
St.  Clara  Altar  and  in  Hamburg  by  Master  Bertram — Master 
Berthold  Landauer.  Concerning  the  date  of  the  beginning  of  his 
artistic  activity  in  Nuremberg  some  doubt  remains,  since,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  a  Master  Berthold  is  mentioned  in  the  chronicles  of 
Nuremberg  as  early  as  1363.  Again  the  name  appears  in  1406 
when  a  Master  Berthold  painted  coats-of-arms  in  the  City  Hall; 
and  again  in  1413,  1423,  and  in  the  years  from  1427  to  1430.  In 
all  probability  there  were  two  masters  of  the  same  name,  doubtless 
father  and  son,  each  of  whom  stood  in  high  repute  as  an  artist. 
That  Berthold  the  Younger  was  the  foremost  artist  in  the  city  is 
attested  to  by  the  record  that,  in  1423,  the  City  Hall  was  "painted 
back  and  front"  by  Master  Berthold,  his  sons  and  apprentices. 

Master  Berthold  probably  learned  the  rudiments  of  his  art  from 
his  father,  and  later  came  under  the  influence  of  the  Bohemian 
Master  of  Wittingau.  The  close  relationship  between  Master 
Berthold  and  the  Master  of  Wittingau  is  manifest  at  first  glance,  if 
we  place  side  by  side  the  Bohemian  painter's  Hohenfurt  Madonna  and 
the  Nuremberg  artist's  Madonna  from  the  Deichsler  Altar  or  the 
one  known  as  the  "Imhof  Madonna."  The  garments,  the  fringed  veil, 
the  arrangement  of  the  hair  of  the  Hohenfurt  Madonna  might  have 
been  the  work  of  the  painter  of  the  Madonna  of  the  Deichsler  Altar,  so 
similar  are  they,  while  the  angels  in  the  background  closely  resemble 
those  in  the  Imhof  Madonna  picture.  Drawing  and  colouring  are 
remarkably  alike  in  the  two  masters  and  the  composition  in  these  two 
Madonna  pictures  of  Master  Berthold  is  almost  identical  with  that 
of  the  Hohenfurt  Madonna. 

A  second  artist,  whose  work  was  doubtless  known  to  the  young 
Master  Berthold  and  whose  types  are  akin  to  those  of  the  Master 

215 


216  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

of  Wittingau,  has  been  named  the  Master  of  the  Przibram 
Family,  from  his  picture  of  a  very  intimate  scene  in  the  Hfe  of  the 
Holy  Family,  which  is  in  the  collection  of  Fraulein  Gabriele  Przibram, 
in  Vienna.  The  scene  is  really  quite  secular,  and  might  have  been 
taken  from  everyday  human  life  in  some  German  family  of  the 
artist's  acquaintance.  Mary  and  Elisabeth  are  sitting  together  on  a 
long  bench,  busy  with  familiar,  domestic  occupations.  Elisabeth  is 
winding  yarn  on  a  reel.  The  crowned  Virgin,  distaff  in  hand,  has 
interrupted  her  work  a  moment  to  read  the  Bible.  On  the  floor,  at 
their  feet,  the  children  John  and  Jesus,  in  their  play,  have  got  into  a 
little  quarrel  over  a  pan  and  spoon.  Jesus  insists  on  taking  it  away 
from  John,  who  turns  to  his  mother  to  complain,  "See  mother,  what 
Jesus  is  doing  to  me !"  The  painter's  technique  is  quite  crude;  though 
he  has  attempted  the  nude  in  the  bodies  of  the  children,  they  are  quite 
flat  and  without  modelling;  and  his  handling  of  the  perspective  is  so 
helpless  that  the  cushions  on  which  the  children  are  sitting  are 
placed  up  in  the  air,  resting  on  nothing.  But  the  types  are  attractive 
and  the  humorous  little  story  does  not  fail  to  interest  by  its  simplicity 
and  humanness. 

Very  close  to  genre  are  two  pictures  by  this  master  in  the  Ger- 
manic Museum,  Nuremberg,  which  represent  the  Massacre  of  the 
Innocents  and  the  Burial  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  The  scene  in  which 
vengeance  overtakes  the  blasphemers  at  the  burial  procession  of  the 
Virgin  is,  indeed,  almost  burlesque. 

Some  historians  believe  that  Master  Berthold's  development  was 
also  affected  in  some  degree  by  Italian  influence,  and  advance  the 
theory  that  he  had  visited  Italy  and  had  seen  the  works  of  Giotto  and 
the  Siennese  masters  before  he  painted  the  Imhof  Madonna.  The 
evidences  of  Italian  influence  are,  however,  limited  to  this  one 
picture,  and  are  so  very  slight,  that  it  seems  more  probable  that  any 
acquaintance  he  may  have  had  with  the  Italian  types  and  manner  was 
gained  from  the  Master  of  Wittingau,  through  the  works  of  those 
Italian  artists  who  had  come  to  Prague  on  the  invitation  of  Emperor 
Karl  IV. 

The  earliest  of  the  works  attributed  to  Berthold  is  the  Deichsler 
Altar,  in  Berlin  Gallery,  which  was  originally  presented  to  the  old 
Dominican  Church  in  Nuremberg  by  Berthold  Deichsler,  who  died 


MASTER  BERTHOLD  217 

in  1418  or  1419.  On  a  board  in  the  carved  middle  section  of  the  altar 
is  the  donor's  name,  while  his  own  and  his  wife's  coats-of-arms  are 
introduced  in  the  pictures  on  the  wings,  which  present  the  standing 
figures  of  the  Virgin  and  Child,  St.  Peter  Martyr,  St.  John  the  Baptist 
and  St.  Elizabeth.  The  present  background  of  dark  blue  dotted  with 
stars  was  painted  in  by  a  later  artist.  The  Virgin,  who  is  slight  and 
girlish,  with  sloping  shoulders,  is  very  lovely  in  her  full  robes  of 
brownish-red  and  green,  with  a  large  crown  on  her  wavy,  blond  hair. 
In  the  curve  of  her  left  arm  she  holds  the  slender,  curly-haired  Babe; 
in  her  right  hand  is  an  apple.  She  is  not  regarding  either  the  Child  or 
us;  her  gaze  is  withdrawn  from  the  things  of  this  world;  she  is  sunk  in 
contemplation.  Yet  the  figure  is  by  no  means  stamped  with  the  peace 
of  mystical  absorption  which  pervades  the  Cologne  pictures  of  this 
period.  The  attitude  of  the  Virgin  is  not  one  of  utter  relaxation,  as  is 
that  of  the  Madonna  with  the  Violet;  she  holds  the  apple  as  if  pre- 
pared to  move  it  at  any  moment  to  provide  distraction  for  the  Child, 
who  is  so  full  of  life  that  he  must  claim  a  great  deal  of  attention.  In- 
stead of  the  appearance  of  perpetual,  calm  dreaming  which  Stephan 
Lochner's  Madonnas  present,  Berthold's  Virgin  looks  as  if  she  had  lost 
herself  in  thought  but  for  a  few  minutes  and  might  at  any  instant  come 
back  to  the  everyday  cares  of  her  motherhood.  The  saints  possess 
much  charm,  and  their  sincerity  and  devotion  are  so  evident  that 
even  the  excessive  sentimentality  of  St.  John  hardly  offends  us. 

The  most  important  work  of  Master  Berthold  and  the  one 
which  was  the  starting  point  for  all  other  attributions,  is  the  Imhof 
Altar  in  the  Imhof  Chapel,  over  the  south  door  in  the  Lorenzkirche 
in  Nuremberg.*  The  central  picture  represents  the  Coronation  of 
the  Virgin;  on  the  wings,  which  have  been  sawed  off  and  hang  on 
the  opposite  wall  of  the  gallery,  are  the  apostles  Philip,  Bartholomew, 
James  the  Greater,  James  the  Less,  Andrew  and  Matthew.  The 
picture  from  the  back  of  the  shrine,  representing  Christ  as  Man  of 
Sorrows  standing  in  the  tomb,  supported  by  the  Virgin  and  St. 
John,  has  been  taken  to  the  Germanic  Museum. 

The  "Coronation  of  the  Virgin"  presents  Christ  and  the  Virgin 
seated  on  a  sort  of  divan  too  simple  in  form  to  be  called  a  throne, 

*  See  Thode:     Die   Malerschule  von  Numberg  im  XIV  und  XV  Jahrhundert.     (Heinrich 
Keller,  Frankfurt,  a/M,  1891.) 


218  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

but  covered  with  rich  brocade.  Christ,  in  cherry-red  robe  and  mantle, 
wearing  a  crown  and  bearing  the  sceptre,  is  placing  a  crown  like  his 
own  on  the  head  of  the  Virgin,  who,  robed  in  blue,  her  fringed  veil 
falling  about  her  shoulders  and  almost  covering  her  hair,  receives 
it  with  hands  folded  in  prayer,  with  humility  and  consecration. 
On  the  right  is  St.  Thaddeus  bearing  his  cross,  on  the  left  St.  Simon. 
At  the  feet  of  the  saints  kneel  the  donors  of  the  altar,  a  man  and 
three  women — Conrad  Imhof  and  his  family.  It  is  recorded 
that  Conrad  Imhof  was  twice  married*  from  this  picture  it  would 
appear  that  he  had  had  three  wives.  That  one  of  the  women  on 
the  right  wing  was  his  first  wife,  Elizabeth  Schatz,  is  manifest  from 
the  introduction  of  the  coat-of-arms  of  her  family. 

The  figures  are  slight,  the  shoulders  narrow  and  sloping,  the 
upper  part  of  the  bodies  of  the  two  who  are  seated,  much  too  long 
in  proportion  to  the  lower  part.  Though  the  bodies  are  still  quite  flat, 
the  artist  has  made  an  effort  to  model  them  and  has  succeeded  in 
sharply  accentuating  the  bony  structure  of  the  limbs  of  the  seated 
figures,  even  under  the  garments.  The  hands  are  unusually  small, 
with  tapering  fingers.  The  faces  are  rather  longer  and  more  pointedly 
oval  than  is  the  ideal  of  the  masters  of  the  same  period  in  Cologne, 
the  forehead  is  lower,  the  mouth  larger,  the  chin  more  strong  and  de- 
cided. Characteristic  of  Master  Berthold  is  the  way  the  men 
wear  their  heavy,  wavy  hair  brushed  straight  back  from  the 
forehead,  so  that  it  almost  covers  the  ears  and  hangs  to  the  nape 
of  the  neck.  The  garments  are  draped  in  regular,  parallel  folds, 
which  break  at  the  edges  in  set  ripples.  The  colouring  is  deeper  and 
stronger  than  that  in  pictures  of  the  School  of  Cologne.  Altogether 
the  impression  gained  is  of  rare  beauty  of  type  and  colouring,  with 
greater  vitality  and  more  underlying  energy  than  we  find  in  the  art 
of  Cologne.  The  atmosphere  is  charged  with  solemn  exaltation;  in- 
ner intensity  is  veiled  only  lightly  by  the  apparent  tranquility. 

A  third  altar  by  Master  Berthold,  the  so-called  Bamberg  Altar,  in 
the  National  Museum,  Munich,  shows  the  great  pathfinder  as  a  dra- 
matist. It  represents,  in  the  shrine,  the  "Crucifixion";  on  the  wings, 
the  "Crowning  with  Thorns,"  "Trial  before  Pilate,"  "Cross  Bearing," 
and  "Descent  from  the  Cross."  The  predellais  a  later  addition  and 
not  the  work  of  Master  Berthold.     The  "Crucifixion"  is  remarkable,  at 


MASTER  BERTHOLD  219 

first  glance,  for  its  well-balanced  composition.  In  the  middle, 
Christ,  long  and  thin  in  body,  and  wearing  still  his  crown  of 
thorns,  hangs  upon  the  cross.  His  suffering  is  expressed  rather  in 
the  bleeding  feet  and  strained  sinews  of  the  arms  than  in  his  beauti- 
ful, calm  face.  At  the  foot  kneels  Mary  Magdalen  with  flowing  hair; 
to  the  left,  the  Virgin  sinks  fainting,  supported  by  John  and  one  of 
the  sorrowing  women;  back  of  the  women,  a  group  of  three  men 
talk  together  as  they  watch  the  Christ;  the  Centurion,  standing  be- 
tween them  and  the  cross,  clasps  his  hands  in  worship;  beside  him 
stands,  gaping,  a  stupid-looking  boy  who  holds  the  staff  on  which  is 
the  vinegar-sponge.  To  the  right  of  the  cross  is  a  group  of  Roman 
soldiers;  one  is  pointing  to  the  Christ,  and  all,  apparently,  are  en- 
gaged in  conversation  about  him.  In  the  right-hand  corner  men  are 
casting  lots  for  his  mantle.  In  the  upper  sky,  to  the  left  and  right 
of  the  arms  of  the  cross,  are  introduced,  according  to  a  practice 
quite  common  in  mediaeval  art,  the  sun  and  moon  with  human 
faces. 

In  several  particulars  the  Bamberg  altar  marks  a  decided  de- 
velopment in  the  master's  art.  He  has  endeavoured  to  model  the 
nude  form  of  Christ,  has  brought  out  painstakingly,  so  far  as  he  was 
able,  the  bones  and  muscles.  In  the  kneeling  figure  of  Mary  Mag- 
dalen, the  attempt  to  realise  the  body  under  the  flowing  robes  is 
bold  though  not  very  successful.  The  thick-set,  strongly  built 
man  to  the  right  who  stands  with  his  back  to  the  spectator  is 
remarkably  well  detached  from  the  background  and  is  as  natural  as 
life  in  appearance  and  pose.  The  refined  face  of  the  Centurion  is  that 
of  a  Nuremberg  patrician;  the  stupid-looking  boy  beside  him  is  very 
lifelike  in  face,  figure,  dress  and  expression.  The  dice-throwers 
are,  in  appearance  and  manners,  ruffians  of  the  Nuremberg  streets. 
The  costumes,  except  those  worn  by  the  sacred  personages,  are  of 
the  varied  fashions  peculiar  to  the  different  classes  of  society  in 
Nuremberg  at  that  period.  The  scene  is  full  of  life,  yet  remarkably 
controlled  in  movement  and  restrained  in  expression. 

One  of  the  best-known  and  most  charming  of  Master  Berthold's 
works  is  the  "Imhof  Madonna,"  in  the  Lorenzkirche  in  Nuremberg. 
Even  at  a  casual  glance,  one  cannot  fail  to  be  struck  by  the  Italian 
note  in  the  picture.    The  Madonna  is  given  in  half  length,  her 


220  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

mantle  and  halo  borne  by  four  angels  with  spread  wings.  She 
holds  the  Child  in  her  arms,  as  if  presenting  him  to  the  world's 
gaze.  The  composition,  the  types  of  Mother  and  Child  and  the 
treatment  of  the  draperies  all  recall  the  Italian  masters.  The  Virgin's 
eyes  are  dark  and  slightly  almond-shaped,  the  mouth  small,  the  chin 
short,  the  brow  not  so  high  and  face  not  so  long  as  in  the  Madonna  of 
the  Imhof  Altar.  The  headdress  of  heavy  stuff  is  in  one  piece  with  the 
mantle,  and  hangs  over  her  forehead  so  as  to  completely  cover  her 
hair.  At  the  bottom  of  the  picture  kneel,  at  the  left,  the  donor  with 
eight  sons,  at  the  right,  his  wife  with  four  daughters.  The  coat-of- 
arms  is  that  of  the  Imhof  family. 

Closely  related  to  the  "Imhof  Madonna"  are  three  pictures  in 
Munich  National  Museum;  the  Epitaph  of  the  nun  Gerhaus  Ferin, 
a  "  Virgin  and  Child,"  with  a  female  donor  presented  by  St.  John  the 
Evangelist,  and  the  "Madonna  in  the  Wheat-ear  Garments."  This 
last-named  is  a  very  attractive  picture  with  a  subject  unique.  It 
presents  the  Virgin  kneeling  in  a  Gothic  hall,  wearing  a  blue  mantle 
patterned  in  golden  ears  of  wheat.  To  the  left,  in  a  doorway  quite 
near  her,  stands  a  white-robed  angel,  and,  to  the  right,  little  angels 
are  peeping  in  through  a  second  door.  It  is  a  charming  picture 
from  the  girlhood  of  the  Virgin,  from  that  time  when,  as  the  legend 
runs,  she  and  her  girl  friends  embroidered  beautiful  silken  robes, 
which  then,  when  lots  were  cast,  fell  to  her.  She  would  pray,  con- 
tinues the  legend,  all  day  long  in  the  Temple  and  the  Archangel 
Gabriel  would  bring  her  the  bread  of  heaven  to  eat. 

An  altar-piece  which  Thode  considers  one  of  the  last  works 
of  Master  Berthold  is  the  Deocarus  Altar,  in  the  Lorenzkirche, 
Nuremberg,  and  is  sacred  to  the  memory  of  that  Deocarus  who  was 
the  Father-Confessor  of  Charlemagne  and  whose  bones  were  pre- 
sented to  the  new  Lorenzkirche  by  Emperor  Louis  the  Bavarian,  in 
1317.  About  a  century  later,  Andreas  Volkamer  made  provision 
for  a  suitable  shrine  for  the  reliquaries  and  for  an  altar  with  wood 
carvings  and  paintings.  The  central  section  of  the  altar  contains, 
in  wood  carving,  in  the  upper  row,  Christ  and  six  of  the  disciples; 
in  the  lower,  St.  Deocarus  and  the  other  six.  The  paintings  on 
the  wings  represent,  on  the  right,  the  Last  Supper  and  the  Resur- 
rection; on  the  left,  scenes  from  the  Legends  of  St.  Deocarus.     On 


Photograph  by  Ferd.  Schmidt,  Nuremberg 

MASTER  BERTHOLD 

Imhop  Madonna 

lorenzkirche,  nuremberq 


Photograph  by  Franz  Hanfstaengl 

Franconian  Master  about  1430,  Possibly  MASTER  BERTHOLD 
Virgin  in  "Wheat-ear"  Garments 
bavarian  national  museum,  munich 


MASTER  BERTHOLD  221 

the  predella  are  represented  the  reclining  form  of  the  saint  and 
four  scenes  from  his  Ufe:  Deocarus  praying  in  front  of  a  forest  chapel, 
the  symbol  of  the  founding  of  his  abbey;  Deocarus  restoring  sight  to 
a  blind  man;  the  confessional  of  Charlemagne;  the  body  of  Deocarus 
being  borne  to  Nuremberg  and  given  over  to  four  councillors  by 
Emperor  Louis.  The  compositions  are  in  small  proportions,  but 
many  of  them  are  quite  masterly.  This  altar  reveals  also  the 
master's  gifts  as  a  wood-carver,  for  the  figures  in  the  middle  sec- 
tion are  from  his  hand  and  resemble  the  paintings  on  the  wings 
as  closely  as  it  is  possible  for  carved  figures  to  resemble  painted  ones. 
There  are  the  same  thick-set  men,  with  rounded  foreheads,  fine, 
slightly  arched  noses,  full  eyes,  wavy  hair  brushed  straight  back 
from  the  forehead,  hands  with  their  knuckles  accentuated;  the  same 
characteristic  draping  of  the  garments;  the  same  poses  and  expres- 
sions of  countenance. 

The  first  great  master  of  Nuremberg  does  not  possess  the  quiet, 
dreamy  charm  of  the  Cologne  master  of  the  "Madonna  with  the  Bean 
Blossom"  or  of  Stephan  Lochner.  With  all  their  loveliness,  his 
people  are  not  the  type  that  would  be  found  so  wholly  sunk  in 
contemplation  of  Divine  Love  and  the  Heavenly  Country  that 
this  world  would  never  exist  for  them.  Nor  are  they  the  type  of 
those  in  Master  Bertram's  charming  stories,  who  move  to  the 
rhythm  of  swinging  censers  or  the  melody  of  stringed  instruments. 
Even  though  they  are  presented  in  repose,  their  lack  of  relaxation, 
their  intensity  of  gaze,  speak  plainly  of  natures  potentially  active 
and  aggressive.  Master  Berthold  could  never  have  revealed  to  us, 
as  did  Stephan  Lochner,  the  bliss  of  souls  new  born  into  heaven;  but 
he  could  portray  the  dramatic  scene  of  the  Crucifixion.  Thus  in  the 
work  of  her  first  painter  we  begin  to  realise  that  the  most  distinc- 
tive characteristic  of  the  art  of  Nuremberg  is  its  dramatic  quaUty. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

NUREMBERG 

MASTER  PFENNING 

ONE  of  the  original,  creative  geniuses  in  German  art,  Master 
Pfenning,  was  a  pupil  of  Berthold  in  Nuremberg.  As  Ber- 
thold  might  fitly  be  called  the  Giotto  of  Nuremberg  art,  to 
Pfenning  might  be  assigned  a  place  corresponding  to  Masaccio's 
in  Italian  art.  While  Master  Berthold  broke  away  in  a  measure 
from  the  old  forms  and  traditions  of  churchly  art,  while  he  turned 
to  life  for  many  of  his  types,  as  the  fat  man,  the  Centurion,  the 
Nuremberg  lad  with  the  staff  and  vinegar-sponge,  in  the  Bamberg 
Altar,  he  nevertheless  clung  closely  in  other  respects  to  conventional 
types  and  attitudes.  Christ,  the  Virgin  and  the  saints  are  all 
presented  in  the  traditional  manner.  Their  expressions  and  poses  are 
hieratic,  their  uniform  attitude  is  one  of  abstraction,  of  withdrawal 
from  the  world.  These  are  divine  beings  and  saints,  and  not  mere 
men  and  women  who  can  understand  and  mingle  with  living,  human 
people.  But  Berthold's  great  successor  departs  from  the  accepted 
churchly  pattern;  in  his  treatment  of  the  oft-represented  themes  he 
is  under  no  restraint  from  the  side  of  the  customary  or  traditional. 
Master  Pfenning  observes  life;  goes  direct  to  nature  and  endeavours 
to  reproduce  men  and  women  as  he  sees  them,  with  their  varying 
and  pronounced  individualities.  He  even  conceives  the  idea  of  set- 
ting them  in  natural  environments,  and  ventures  to  introduce  into 
his  pictures  such  non-traditional  features  as  domestic  animals  and 
still-life  accessories. 

Naturally  he  does  not  achieve  with  perfect  success  this  break 
with  the  typical  and  adoption  of  the  natural  and  individual  as  a 
standard.  The  doing  of  it  is  a  conflict,  a  struggle  which  is  evident  to 
us  who  look  on,  and  which,  in  fact,  draws  us  to  his  pictures  with 
such  a  full  realisation  of  what  is  so  earnestly  attempted  and  so 
far  from  accomplished,  that  we  become  sharers  in  the  endeavour  and 

222 


MASTER  PFENNING  223 

an  interest  is  awakened  in  us  which  is  almost  creative  in  its  character, 
as  if  we  ourselves  were  painting  the  picture  and  striving  to  solve 
the  new  problems. 

Master  Pfenning's  earliest  work  was  probably  the  Tucher  Altar, 
in  the  Frauenkirche  in  Nuremberg,  which  was  painted  between  1440 
and  1450.  It  is  not  a  work  which  has  in  it  much  of  superficial  beauty, 
for  even  the  charm  of  the  works  of  the  earlier  masters  is  lacking;  but 
it  is  a  work  thoroughly  Germanic  in  character  and  spirit,  conscien- 
tiously true  to  nature  as  the  artist  sees  it  and  is  able  to  reproduce 
it,  and  the  direct  antecedent  of  the  long  line  of  pictures  which  were 
to  follow  in  the  school  of  Nuremberg. 

The  background  is  gold,  richly  adorned  with  ceaselessly  moving, 
curling  acanthus  leaves;  the  encasements  are  Gothic  arches,  finely 
carved  and  profusely  ornamented.  The  central  picture  represents 
the  Crucified  One  between  the  Virgin  and  St.  John.  The  Christ,  un- 
lovely in  face  and  form,  hangs  upon  the  cross,  still  wearing  the  crown 
of  thorns  and  with  blood  streaming  from  every  wound.  The  Virgin, 
belonging  to  no  type  hitherto  met  with  in  art,  though  wearing  the 
traditional  white  headdress,  holds  up  hands  as  if  in  protest;  St.  John, 
thick-set  and  strong-looking,  with  square  jaw  and  strenuous  expres- 
sion, is  moving  his  hands  as  if  about  to  clasp  them  in  prayer.  At  the 
foot  of  the  cross,  among  the  plants  and  flowers,  is  a  death's  head. 

On  the  left  wing  of  the  altar  is  the  Annunciation.  The  Virgin, 
an  intense-looking  woman,  but  wholly  a  woman  and  not  a  trance- 
bound  mystic  or  a  Queen  of  Heaven,  is  interrupted  in  her  reading  in  a 
curtained  room,  by  an  angel  with  full,  white  robes  and  great,  spread 
wings  who  kneels  before  her,  the  fingers  of  his  right  hand  raised  in 
blessing,  his  lips  parted  in  speech.  In  his  left  hand  he  bears  a  written 
message  with  great  dangling  seals,  a  naive  symbol  of  his  errand  to 
earth. 

The  right  wing  shows  the  Resurrection.  The  Christ,  unbeautif  ul, 
a  thick-set  figure,  but  with  kindly  eyes,  is  arising  from  the  tomb. 
The  guard  sitting  with  his  back  to  us  is  sound  asleep  with  his  head 
resting  on  his  arms;  the  one  wearing  the  oriental  turban  and  facing 
us  sleeps  in  a  most  amusingly  natural  fashion,  his  head  on  his  hand, 
elbow  propped  on  knee.  The  third  has  just  awakened  and  with 
his  hand  shades  his  eyes  from  the  dazzling  brightness.     His  whole 


224  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

body  expresses  the  startled  amazement  with  which  he  shrinks  from 
the  sudden  apparition. 

On  each  of  the  outer  ends  of  the  altars  are  two  saints;  on  the  right 
St.  Augustine  and  St.  Monica,  with  an  angel  hovering  between  and 
above  them  in  curious  foreshortening;  on  the  left,  St.  Paul  and  St. 
Anthony.  On  the  outer  sides  of  the  wings  are  St.  Vitus,  St.  Adjutor 
and  St.  Augustine,  the  latter  pictured  just  at  the  moment  when, 
hard  at  work  in  his  study,  he  looks  up  to  catch,  in  the  sky  above,  the 
heavenly  vision  of  the  Madonna  and  Child.  Beside  him  are  the 
tools  of  his  occupation — books,  letters,  a  light,  a  pair  of  spectacles  and 
an  hour-glass. 

The  external  characteristics  of  this  Tucher  Altar  which  most  im- 
press us  as  original  features  and  innovations  in  Nuremberg  art  are  the 
massive  strength  of  the  figures,  the  emphasis  laid  upon  the  bony 
structure  of  nose,  cheek-bones,  knuckles  and  knees,  the  amplitude  of 
the  garments  with  their  heavy  folds,  the  deep  colours  which  help  to 
give  the  figures  body  and  detachment,  the  attempts  at  foreshorten- 
ing and  perspective,  as  in  the  guards  at  the  tomb  and  the  angel  between 
Saints  Augustine  and  Monica,  and  the  free  introduction  of  worldly 
details  as  in  the  still-life  accessories  in  "The  Vision  of  St.  Augustine." 

Whether,  or  not,  as  Edward  von  Engerth  believes.  Master 
Pfenning  lived  for  a  time  in  Austria,  where  he  was  occasionally 
confused  with  that  Lorenz  Pfenning  who  was  architect  of  St.  Stephen's 
Church  in  Vienna  in  1454,  cannot  be  established.  In  Vienna  Gallery 
is  found,  however,  one  of  his  most  important  works,  "The  Crucifixion," 
dated  1449.*  The  composition  of  the  picture  is  crowded  with  figures 
and  details  of  every  sort.  In  the  foreground,  in  the  middle  of  the 
picture,  hangs  the  Christ  on  the  Cross,  a  figure  strangely  weak  and 
lacking  in  modelling.  To  right  and  left  are  the  thieves,  tied  to  their 
crosses;  one  of  them  looks  imploringly  at  the  Redeemer,  the  other 
turns  his  head  away,  grinning  malevolently.  To  the  left,  the 
Virgin  sinks  fainting  into  the  arms  of  one  of  the  other  women;  John 
and  a  woman  mourner  turn  their  heads  distractedly  toward  the  cross, 
in  an  agony  of  grief  and  prayer.     On  the  ground,  but  a  short  distance 

*Some  authorities  do  not  accept  Thode's  attribution  of  the  Vienna  "Crucifixion"  to  the  Master 
of  the  Tucher  Altar.  In  spite  of  the  signature,  they  attribute  it  to  one  Conrad  Laib,  on  the 
ground  of  its  resemblance  to  an  altar-piece  painted  by  him  in  the  Cathedral  in  Gratz. 


MASTER  PFENNING  225 

from  this  group,  a  very  small  boy,  all  unconscious  of  the  tragedy 
which  is  being  enacted,  is  playing  with  a  dog;  from  the  right  comes 
another  dog,  curious  about  the  death's  head  with  the  staring  eyes  which 
is  lying  near  the  foot  of  the  cross.  A  crowd  throngs  about  the  three 
crosses.  Beside  that  of  the  good  thief  stands  a  man  in  oriental  robes, 
holding  by  the  hand  a  chubby  Httle  boy,  pointing  upward  to  the  thief 
and  talking  with  another  man  who  is  laughing  broadly.  Between 
them  and  the  central  cross  is  a  very  fat,  magisterial-looking  personage 
in  a  gorgeous  mantle,  riding  a  sad-looking  mule.  A  warrior  in  the  full 
armour  of  a  mediaeval  knight,  his  lowered  visor  permitting  only  his  eyes 
to  be  seen,  leans  back,  a  fine  statuesque  figure,  to  answer  a  questioning 
friend,  who  has  laid  his  hand  on  his  shoulder  to  attract  attention. 
Behind  him  a  man  is  shouting,  with  wide-open  mouth.  To  the  right  of 
the  cross  a  man  with  sweeping  beard  is  pointing  toward  the  Crucified 
One  and  engaging  his  neighbour  in  serious  discussion  about  him.  Still 
farther  to  the  right,  rather  behind  the  cross  of  the  unrepentant  thief, 
stands  a  Pharisee,  his  head  resting  on  his  hand,  in  an  attitude  of  con- 
templation. Across  the  right  front  of  the  scene  rides  a  beautiful  youth 
in  armour,  with  princely  bearing,  mounted  on  a  white  horse  with  a 
heavy  body  and  a  very  small  head.  Immediately  to  the  left  of  the 
cross  and  the  kneeling  Magdalen  is  the  Centurion  on  horseback,  his 
back  to  us,  his  right  hand  upraised  to  the  Christ.  His  horse  is  capari- 
soned, and  around  the  back  of  its  trappings  runs  what  looks,  at  first, 
like  a  merely  decorative  design  in  the  border,  but  on  closer  examination 
proves  to  be  the  master's  signatm-e,  motto,  and  the  date  of  the  picture. 
"D,  Pfenning,  1449,  As  I  can."  the  same  motto  as  Jan  van  Eyck's — 
"This  work  is  done  just  as  well  as  I  can  do  it." 


And  truly  it  is  a  marvellously  interesting  work !    The  actors  are 
individualised,  the  detachment  of  the  figures  from  the  background 


226  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

is  real,  the  perspective  astonishingly  successful,  the  colouring  rich. 
And  such  a  variety  of  people  and  states  of  mind!  Practically 
every  conceivable  mental  attitude  toward  the  Christ  and  the  great 
drama  of  Calvary  is  recorded  in  this  picture! 

A  third  work  attributed  to  Master  Pfenning  is  in  the  old 
Cistercian  Church  in  Heilsbronn,  and  represents  the  Queen  of 
Heaven  holding  on  her  left  arm  the  Christ  Child,  and  in  her 
right  hand  a  sceptre.  Two  angels  are  placing  the  heavy  crown 
on  her  head;  under  her  full,  protective  mantle  are  assembled  the 
monks  of  the  cloister  and  their  abbot  Ulrich,  who  evidently  gave 
the  commission  for  the  painting  of  this  picture  during  his  term 
of  office,  which  ran  from  1435  to  1463.  The  Virgin  is  a  tall  figure, 
narrow-shouldered  but  stately  in  her  voluminous  robes;  the  face  is 
strongly  modelled  and  reveals  the  serenity  and  reserve  strength 
which  should  appertain  to  a  Madonna  of  Succour.  The  Child  lean- 
ing against  his  mother's  breast,  looks  straight  out  at  us  dreamily, 
forgetting  the  fluttering  bird  he  holds  on  a  string. 

In  Master  Pfenning's  last  period  an  interesting,  though  un- 
beautiful  development  takes  place  in  his  art.  That  faithfulness 
to  nature,  that  quest  for  reality  by  which  his  best  works  are  marked, 
develops  beyond  the  limitations  of  art  into  a  rendering  of  actual 
detail  which  is  painful,  even  grotesque  and  horrible.  Thus  in 
an  altar-piece  in  the  Lorenzkirche  which  represents  the  Man  of 
Sorrows,  with  Emperor  Henry  H  and  Empress  Kunigunde,  St. 
Lawrence  and  a  donor,  the  Christ  is  pictured  as  a  veritable  giant, 
with  over-emphasised  muscular  development  and  almost  brutal 
strength.  Similar  in  type  is  the  Christ  of  a  small  altar-piece  in 
St.  John's  Church  representing,  on  the  inside,  the  Crucifixion, 
Crowning  with  Thorns,  and  Scourging;  on  the  outside,  six  other 
scenes  from  the  Passion.  The  insistent  features  are  the  muscular 
contortion  which  reveals  the  agony  of  Christ,  and  the  inhumanly 
villainous  features  of  his  tormentors.  The  only  relieving  feature 
in  the  revolting  realism  of  these  works  is  a  certain  warmth  and 
glow  of  colour. 

Involuntarily  there  arises  in  our  minds,  in  face  of  these  pictures, 
the  question:  How  were  these  subjects  treated  at  this  period  by 
contemporary  artists  in  the  other  countries  which  could  boast  of 


Photograph  by  F.  Bruckmann  A-G,  Munich 

MASTER  PFENNING 

The  Crucifixion 
imperial  gallery,  vienna 


Photograph  by  C.  Dickinson 

MASTER  PFENNING 

Madonna  of  Succor 
church,  heilsbronn 


MASTER  PFENNING  <1%1 

any  development  of  art,  Italy  and  the  Netherlands?  In  Italy,  as 
we  have  seen,  the  subject  of  the  Passion  of  Christ  was  presented 
rarely,  as  it  did  not  really  lend  itself  to  representation  according 
to  the  classical  and  Italian  canons  of  art.  Pfenning's  Italian  con- 
temporary, Fra  Angelico,  did,  however,  paint  the  Crucifixion  several 
times,  in  a  manner  sentimental,  undramatic,  unimpassioned,  so  that 
in  itself,  it  fails  to  move  us  deeply,  but  stirs  our  sympathy  rather 
through  the  appeal  made  by  the  tears  of  the  gentle,  mourning  women 
and  the  grieving  disciples.  In  the  Netherlands  it  was  a  frequent 
theme.  By  such  a  master  as  Roger  van  der  Weyden  we  find  it 
treated  dramatically  but  with  restraint,  and  in  a  spirit  of  detach- 
ment on  the  part  of  the  artist,  who  views  and  presents  the  scene 
from  the  standpoint  of  an  outsider.  The  German  artist,  on  the 
other  hand,  is  a  sufferer  in  the  tragedy.  He  is  passionately  par- 
tisan, and  is,  moreover,  intent  upon  sharing  with  others  all  his  in- 
tensity of  feeling,  his  grief,  despair  and  longing.  In  his  effort  to 
do  this  he  passes  beyond  the  possibilities  of  expression  through 
his  medium;  in  the  fullest  reahsation  of  his  ideal,  his  art  ceases 
to  be  artistic;  he  is  an  illustration  of  Thoreau's  saying,  "Too 
great  interest  in  a  work  vitiates  it." 


CHAPTER  XXXII 

NUREMBERG 

HANS  PLEYDENWURFF 

THE  art  of  the  Netherlands,  which,  in  the  second  half  of  the  XV 
century,  had  such  a  benumbing  effect  on  the  art  of  Cologne 
proved  to  be,  on  the  one  hand,  but  a  beneficial  straight- jacket, 
on  the  other,  an  inspiration  to  the  art  of  Nuremberg.  On  the  side  of 
sentiment,  the  cooler,  calmer  temperament  and  formal  self-control 
of  the  Flemish  artists,  who  always  maintained  a  certain  measure  of 
intellectual  detachment  from  their  pictures,  was  what  the  Nuremberg 
painters  needed  to  restrain  them  from  the  exaggerations  and  perver- 
sions into  which  they  were  led  by  their  intense  emotional  natures  and 
their  passionate  interest  in  the  subjects  they  presented.  The  perfect, 
almost  geometrical  balance  in  the  composition  of  the  pictures  by  the 
artists  of  the  Netherlands  also  worked  with  controlling  power  upon  the 
Nuremberg  artists,  leading  them  away  from  their  unregulated  disposal 
of  actors  and  capricious  display  of  moods  into  a  greater  degree  of  order 
and  restraint.  On  the  technical  side,  too,  the  art  of  the  Netherlands 
was  an  inspiration  to  the  Nuremberg  artists,  casting  light  on  much  that 
had  hitherto  been  dark  and  making  attainable  much  that  had  hitherto 
been  impossible.  Painting  in  oils,  they  were  enabled  to  present  their 
figures  in  rounded  form,  completely  detached  from  the  background, 
and  yet  to  use  lighter  and  more  brilliant  colours  than  Master  Pfen- 
ning, for  instance,  could  have  used  to  get  his  effects.  The  figures 
became  less  thick-set  and  more  slender,  the  faces  more  oval,  the 
materials  more  gorgeous  and  stiffer  and  therefore  more  angular  in 
their  folds,  the  gold  background  gave  place  to  landscapes.  In  short, 
instead  of  losing  their  individuality  under  the  dominant  influence  of 
the  art  of  the  Netherlands,  the  Nuremberg  artists  appropriated  and 
adapted  all  the  points  they  could  gain  from  it  and  went  on  their  own 
way  rejoicing  in  increased  facilities  and  enlarged  possibilities. 

The  master  of  the  second  half  of  the  XV  century  in  whose  school 
the  other  artists  learned  their  art  was  Hans  Pleydenwurff.     First 

228 


HANS  PLEYDENWURFF  229 

mentioned  in  the  chronicles  in  1451,  his  name  appears  very  frequently 
from  that  date  until  1472,  in  which  year  he  died,  leaving  a  widow, 
who,  in  the  next  year,  married  Michael  Wolgemut. 

One  of  the  most  important  of  his  works  remaining  to  us  is  a 
large  Crucifixion,  signed  indistinctly  on  the  turban  of  the  young  man 
to  the  right,  J.  P. — Johannes  Pley denwurff — which  was  painted  for  the 
Lorenzkirche,  Nuremberg,  was  taken  from  there  to  the  Burg,  and  from 
there  to  Bamberg,  whence  it  came,  in  1872,  to  Munich  Pinakothek. 
The  picture  is  interesting  not  only  in  itself,  but  as  a  connecting  link 
between  the  old  style  and  the  new.  The  foreground  is  filled  with 
figures  grouped  about  the  cross  upon  which  hangs  the  shrinking  body 
of  the  suffering  Christ.  Mary  Magdalen  clings  to  the  foot  of  the 
cross;  to  the  left  is  the  group  of  mourners,  and  behind  them  a  grey- 
bearded  man  with  clasped  hands,  with  whom  a  younger  man  is  arguing 
with  much  gesticulation,  and  at  whom  a  simple-looking  man  stands 
staring,  his  back  to  the  cross.  To  the  right  are  soldiers  and  common 
people,  among  them  a  man  on  a  white  horse,  who  is  given  in  profile, 
the  elderly  Centurion  on  a  fine  prancing  steed,  and  an  indifferent  and 
smiUng  youth  in  full  armour.  Behind  the  cross  stretches  a  wide 
landscape  of  hills  and  trees  in  which  is  set  the  city  of  Jerusalem;  in  the 
middle  distance  people  are  seen  walking  and  riding. 

The  whole  picture  speaks  of  the  influence  of  such  a  Flemish 
master  as  Roger  van  der  Weyden,  in  the  modelling  of  the  nude,  the 
landscape  background,  with  its  minute  details  all  revealed  in  strong 
light,  and  the  emotional  restraint.  But  the  types  with  their  broad 
faces  and  full,  red  lips  parted  as  if  speaking  are  distinctly  Nurem- 
bergian.  Many  of  the  people,  indeed,  are,  of  a  certainty,  pictured 
direct  from  life,  as  the  man  holding  the  vinegar-sponge,  who,  in- 
cidentally, bears  a  close  resemblance  to  the  man  similarly  occupied  in 
Master  Berthold's  Bamberg  Altar.  The  colouring  is  still  of  the  old 
school,  a  heavy  brown  tone  prevailing. 

Very  similar  to  this  in  almost  every  respect  is  another  representa- 
tion of  the  Crucifixion  by  Pley  denwurff,  in  the  Germanic  Museum,  in 
which  Canon  Schonborn  of  Wurzburg  appears  as  donor.  This  picture 
of  the  donor  gives,  however,  no  suggestion  of  the  great  gifts  as  a  por- 
trait painter  revealed  by  the  artist  in  his  masterly  portrait  of  this  same 
Canon  Schonborn,  in  the  Germanic  Museum.     The  grey-haired  cleric 


230  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

is  presented  in  half  length,  against  a  blue  background,  holding  a  book. 
The  head  is  finely  modelled,  wonderfully  soft  in  contour  and  amazingly 
lifelike.  The  rendering  of  the  texture  of  the  skin  and  of  the  fine, 
rather  thin,  grey  hair,  the  lines  and  wrinkles  about  the  eyes  and 
mouth,  the  keen  yet  kindly  expression,  make  the  man  live  before  us. 
We  are  made  acquainted  with  both  his  outward  appearance  and  his 
inner  nature,  through  a  portrait  which  is  without  peer  in  German  art 
before  Durer. 

Very  marked  is  the  influence  of  Flemish  art  in  Master  Pley- 
denwurfl's  Landauer  Altar — so  called  because  it  bears  the  coat-of-arms 
of  the  Landauer  family — which  is  now  in  scattered  sections,  of  which 
the  two  representing  the  Betrothal  of  St.  Catherine  and  the  Nativity 
are  in  the  Germanic  Museum,  two  others,  representing  the  Crucifixion 
and  Resurrection,  in  Augsburg  Gallery,  while  two  pairs  of  wings  have 
disappeared.  In  the  "Betrothal  of  St.  Catherine"  we  are  shown  the 
inside  of  a  room  such  as  Jan  van  Eyck  would  have  delighted  in.  On 
the  table  in  the  centre  are  a  glass,  fork  and  dish;  on  the  wall,  a  plate- 
rack  filled  with  shining  pewter;  below  it  a  cupboard  in  which  is  seen  a 
flask  half  full  of  water;  in  the  rear  of  the  room  is  a  Gothic  cabinet  with 
wash-bowl  and  towel;  through  an  open  door  we  look  into  an  adjoining 
bedroom.  Out  of  the  windows  to  the  left  may  be  seen,  in  a  flat  land- 
scape, a  church  tower  and  a  farm  house  with  people.  In  the  imme- 
diate foreground  of  the  picture,  the  Virgin,  crowned  and  invested 
with  a  large  halo,  wearing  a  dress  of  rich  brocade  and  mantle  of  plain 
stuff,  holds  the  standing  Christ  Child,  who  is  placing  the  ring  on  the 
finger  of  St.  Catherine,  who  kneels  before  him  in  a  mantle  of  hand- 
some red  and  gold  brocade  and  a  curious,  oriental  turban  of  a  fashion 
worn  by  many  of  the  women  in  Roger  van  der  Wey den's  pictures. 

The  painter's  fame  travelled  far,  so  that,  in  1462,  he  was  in- 
vited to  Breslau  to  paint  a  High  Altar  for  St.  Elizabeth's  Church. 
Unfortunately  this  altar  is  now  in  scattered  sections.  The  "  Descent 
from  the  Cross"  (which,  when  I  saw  it,  was  in  the  hands  of 
a  picture  dealer)  presents  a  high  cross  set  up  alone  in  the  fore- 
ground of  the  picture.  Against  it  are  placed  two  ladders;  on  the 
one  at  the  back  Joseph  of  Arimathea  is  standing,  and  leaning  over 
the  top  of  the  cross,  as  he  lets  down  the  body  of  Christ  in  a  winding 
sheet.     On  the  ladder  in  front  of  the  cross  is  a  youthful  figure,  his 


Photograph  by  Fried.  Hoefle,  Augsburg 

HANS  PLEYDENWURFF 

Portrait  of  Canon  Schoxborn 
germanic  museum,  nuremberg 


Photograph  by  Franz  Hanfstaengl 


HANS  PLEYDENWURFF 

The  Crucifixion 
alte  pinakothek,  munich 


HANS  PLEYDENWURFF  231 

back  to  us,  his  full  garments  blowing  in  the  wind,  who  with  much 
energy  and  solicitude,  is  receiving  the  body.  At  the  bottom  of 
the  ladder  is  John,  one  foot  on  the  lowest  rung,  one  hand  touching 
the  foot  of  Christ  caressingly.  Beside  him  a  man  who  is  holding 
the  nails,  tenderly  comforts  a  grieving  woman  who  is  seen  in  profile. 
To  the  left  of  the  cross  are  the  other  mourners;  on  the  ground  are 
flowers,  bones,  a  skull,  and  a  pair  of  shoes  that  have  been  dropped  by 
the  young  man  on  the  ladder.  In  the  background  stretches  a 
wide,  hilly  landscape  with  houses  and  low,  bushy  trees.  On  the 
road  to  the  left  several  men  are  walking. 

The  form  of  Christ,  though  slender,  is  well  constructed  and  the 
arms,  which  have  been  lifted  up  by  the  winding-sheet  with  which 
Joseph  supports  the  body,  are  so  finely  modelled  that  the  effect  is 
almost  sculptural.  Remarkable  is  the  impression  of  limpness  the 
painter  has  succeeded  in  giving  in  these  hanging  arms  and  in  the 
whole  relaxed  body.  The  features  of  the  face,  though  somewhat 
swollen  from  the  recent  suffering,  are  refined,  and  the  whole  figure, 
in  its  helplessness  and  utter  weariness,  is  most  appealing. 

In  no  better  way  can  we  form  an  estimate  of  the  greatness 
of  Pleydenwurff*s  picture  than  by  comparing  it  with  Michael 
Wolgemut's  treatment  of  the  same  subject  on  a  wing  of  the  Hofer 
Altar  in  Munich  Pinakothek.  How  cold  the  Wolgemut  picture  is 
in  comparison!  How  self-consciously  posed  the  figures!  How  in- 
sincere the  feeling!  Even  the  youth  with  his  back  to  us  going  up 
the  ladder — an  evident  imitation  of  Pleydenwurff — is  posing,  not 
hastening  in  response  to  an  inner  impulse.  In  comparison  with  the 
older  artist,  Wolgemut' s  modelling  of  the  nude  is  hard  and  wooden, 
the  people  are  affected,  the  whole  atmosphere  is  artificial  and 
insincere. 

Hans  Pleydenwurff  was  the  first  to  introduce  into  Nuremberg 
art  the  new  methods  learned  from  the  Flemish  painters,  and 
thus  to  open  up  the  way  which  should  make  possible  the  accomplish- 
ments of  his  successors  along  the  lines  of  modelling  and  perspec- 
tive. But  more  impressive  than  his  achievements  in  his  search 
for  adequate,  technical  means  of  expression,  are  the  sincerity  and 
insight  which  mark  him  as  the  greatest  of  the  forerunners  of 
Diirer  in  Nuremberg. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 

NUREMBERG 

MICHAEL  WOLGEMUT 

THE  extraordinary  degree  of  fame  which  Michael  Wolgemut 
has  enjoyed  through  the  centuries  is  due  in  no  small  measure  to 
the  fact  that  Diirer  recorded  in  his  diary:  "In  1486,  on  St. 
Andrew's  Day,  my  father  apprenticed  me  for  three  years  to  Michael 
Wolgemut.  During  this  period  God  granted  me  industry  so  that  I 
learned  well,  though  I  had  much  to  suffer  from  my  fellow  students.'* 
So  much  reflected  glory  from  the  great  pupil  was  shed  about  the  teacher, 
that  everything  of  interest  in  Nuremberg  painting  from  the  second 
half  of  the  fifteenth  century  was  ascribed  to  him,  and  it  is  only  rela- 
tively recently  that  such  investigators  as  Seidlitz,  Robert  Vischer, 
Thode  and  Braun  have  discovered  the  distinct  personalities  working 
in  that  period  and  have  made  more  exact  attributions. 

Michael  Wolgemut  was  the  son  of  a  painter  Valentin  Wolge- 
mut, who  worked  in  Nuremberg  between  1461  and  1470  but  of  whom 
no  known  works  remain,  and  his  wife  Anna,  whose  name  continued 
on  the  census  list  beside  her  son's  until  1480.  According  to  the 
inscription  on  Diirer's  portrait  of  his  master,  in  Munich  Pinakothek, 
Michael  Wolgemut  was  born  in  1434  and  died  in  1519  "on  St. 
Andrew's  Day,  early,  before  sunrise." 

The  first  notice  of  him  in  the  Chronicles  is  dated  1473,  and 
is  a  record  of  his  marriage  to  Barbara,  widow  of  Hans  Pleyden- 
wurff.  In  the  Pleydenwurff  home  he  set  up  his  workshop  and 
continued  to  live  there  until  1493,  when  he  sold  the  house  to  Bartholo- 
mew Eger  and  bought  the  house  next  door,  on  the  corner,  which,  in 
turn,  he  sold  to  the  Egers  in  1507.  That  he  had  become  a  famous 
painter  by  the  year  1478  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  he  was  then  in- 
vited to  Zwickau  to  paint  the  High  Altar  for  St.  Mary's  Church.  His 
next  large  commission  was  the  altar  ordered  by  the  Peringsdorffer 
family,  of  Nuremberg,  in  1487.  In  1491,  according  to  the  record  in 
the  City  Archives,  he  was  engaged  to  renovate  the  SchonenBrunnen,  a 

232 


MICHAEL  WOLGEMUT  233 

commission  which  he  delegated  to  his  stepson,  Wilhelm  Pleydenwurff, 
who  received  payment  for  it  from  the  city.  In  the  same  year  this 
stepson  accepted  with  Wolgemut  a  joint  commission  for  the  illustra- 
tion of  Hartmann  Schedel's  "World  Chronicle,"  which  appeared  in 
Latin  in  1493,  and  in  German  in  1494. 

In  1500  came  an  invitation  from  the  town  of  Goslar  to  decorate 
with  frescoes  a  room  in  its  City  Hall,  in  appreciation  of  which  service 
performed,  the  Town  Council  conferred  upon  him,  in  the  following 
year,  honorary  citizenship  in  Goslar.  The  last  of  his  works  of  which 
there  is  a  record  is  an  altar  painted  for  St.  John's  Church,  Schwa- 
bach,  in  1508.  After  that  date  there  are  no  further  notices  of  him 
until  that  of  his  death  in  1519.  His  wife  Barbara,  Hans  Pleyden- 
wurff's  widow,  had  died  in  1496  and  he  had  married  again,  one 
Christine,  who  survived  him  and  Kved  in  Nuremberg  until  1550. 

Though  not  the  earliest  work  we  possess  from  his  hand,  the 
High  Altar  in  St.  Mary's  Church  in  Zwickau  is  the  first  one  mentioned 
in  the  records  that  have  come  down  to  us.  Its  shrine  contains  in 
wood  carving  the  Virgin  as  Queen  of  Heaven,  standing  on  the  half- 
moon,  and  attended  by  seven  female  saints.  On  the  outside  of  the 
outer  wings,  on  a  gold  background,  are  the  Annunciation,  Nativity, 
Adoration  of  the  Kings,  and  Holy  Family.  On  the  outside  of  the 
second  pair  of  wings,  against  a  blue  background  of  air,  are  four  scenes 
from  the  Passion,  two  of  which,  the  Crowning  with  Thorns  and  the 
Cross  Bearing,  are  the  work  of  a  pupil;  on  the  predella,  in  wood-carv- 
ing, are  Christ  and  the  twelve  apostles;  on  the  inner  sides  of  the  wings 
are  painted  figures  of  saints  on  a  gold  ground,  in  round  frames;  on 
the  outside,  the  four  evangelists  and  two  angels  bearing  the 
Eucharist.  On  the  back  of  the  altar  is  the  Last  Judgment,  evidently 
the  work  of  an  unskilled  pupil,  and  below  it,  the  Vera  Icon,  Fall  of 
Manna,  and  Melchisidec  blessing  the  Bread  and  Wine. 

The  altar  is  impressive  in  size  and  in  the  number  and  variety  of 
subjects  treated.  The  only  way  to  judge  of  its  real  rank  as  a  work  of 
art,  is  to  spend  much  time  with  it,  to  learn  to  know  intimately  the 
people  represented,  to  see  how  they  "wear,"  to  judge  of  the  genuine- 
ness of  their  natures  and  the  sincerity  of  the  master  who  created  them. 
And  it  must  be  confessed  that  the  comparison  of  Wolgemut's  "Descent 
from  the  Cross"  with  the  treatment  of  the  same  subject  by  Hans 


234  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

Pleydenwurff,  has  made  it  impossible  to  look  at  Wolgemut's  work 
with  quite  the  same  eyes  as  before.  A  study  of  this  great  altar- 
piece  fails  to  rid  us  of  the  conviction  that  Michael  Wolgemut  is 
more  concerned  with  the  outward  expression  than  the  inner  reality; 
that,  like  a  skilful  stage  manager,  he  knows  what  his  actors  ought  to 
seem  to  feel  in  order  to  appeal  to  us  and  makes  them  assume  the 
appropriate  poses  and  expressions.  But  the  emotion  itself  is  lacking 
and  the  expression  of  it  is  so  evidently  a  pretense  that,  after  a  time, 
it  offends  us.  Technical  faciUty  Wolgemut  certainly  possessed,  and 
the  power  to  impress  the  casual  observer  at  first  glance  by  the  size 
and  apparent  dignity  of  his  figures,  the  balance  of  his  compositions, 
the  cleanness  of  his  drawing  and  the  effectiveness  of  his  lighting. 
Long  and  close  acquaintance  with  his  pictures  reveals  them,  as  the 
work  of  a  clever  technician  indeed,  but  as  insincere  and  unconvincing. 
His  women  in  their  sentimental  attitudes  are  incapable  of  profound 
emotion;  his  men,  who,  at  first  glance,  seem  dignified  and  thought- 
ful are  intellectually  limited,  small  in  heart  and  soul;  though  their 
poses  express  the  utmost  interest  and  concern,  they  are  in  reality 
indifferent  and  even  untrustworthy.  The  great  themes  the  painter 
presents  really  make  no  profound  appeal  to  him;  they  are  but  oppor- 
tunities for  the  exercise  of  his  technical  facility  and  his  theatrical 
gifts.  In  the  matter  of  exact  reproduction,  however,  his  skill  shows 
to  advantage,  as  in  the  painting  of  the  landscape  about  Nuremberg, 
which  forms  the  background  for  most  of  his  scenes;  in  the  fineness 
and  beauty  of  the  architectural  features  in  his  pictures;  the  lifelikeness 
of  the  portraits  of  real  people  introduced,  and  the  rendering  of  ma- 
terials in  robes  and  hangings.  For  colour,  too,  he  had  a  considerable 
gift,  and  one  of  the  chief  attractions  of  the  Zwickau  Altar  is  its  rich, 
deep  colouring  and  the  interesting  treatment  of  the  light. 

Unmistakably  an  earlier  work  than  the  Zwickau  Altar  was  the 
Hofer  Altar,  formerly  in  Trinity  Church,  Hof,  but  now  in  four 
sections  in  Munich  Pinakothek,  one  of  which,  showing  the  Resur- 
rection, bears  on  the  back  of  the  panel  the  date  1465. 

The  first  section  represents  Gethsemane,  with  the  three  disciples 
sleeping,  and,  in  the  background,  Judas,  a  monstrous  villain,  entering 
the  garden  at  the  head  of  a  company  of  soldiers.  On  the  back  is  the 
Archangel  Michael.     The  second  panel  shows  Christ  Crucified.     At 


Photograph  by  Franz  Hanfataengl 

MICHAEL  WOLGEMUT 

The  Crucifixion 
alte  pinakothek,  munich 


Photograph  hy  Franz  Hanfstaengl 

MICAHEL  WOLGEMUT 

Descent  from  the  Cross 
alte  pinakothek,  munich 


MICHAEI,  WOLGEMUT  235 

the  left  of  the  cross  is  the  group  of  mourners,  at  the  right  stand  sev- 
eral men  of  evident  rank  and  distinction;  the  background  is  an  unusu- 
ally fine  landscape.  On  the  back  is  the  Annunciation.  On  the  third 
panel  is  pictured  the  Descent  from  the  Cross,  which  has  been  con- 
sidered already  in  comparison  with  Hans  Pleydenwurff's  treat- 
ment of  the  same  subject.  On  the  back  is  the  Nativity.  The 
fourth  panel  shows  the  Resurrection.  The  Christ  is  represented 
in  the  act  of  rising  from  the  tomb,  on  the  cover  of  which 
kneels  an  angel  holding  the  grave  clothes.  Three  guards  are 
beside  it,  one  of  whom,  suddenly  awakened  from  sleep,  is  shad- 
ing his  eyes  with  his  hand,  as  in  the  Resurrection  scene  in  Pfen- 
ning's Tucher  Altar.  In  the  background,  three  women  are  ap- 
proaching through  a  gate.  On  the  back  of  this  panel  are  Saints 
Bartholomew  and  James. 

The  colouring  in  the  Hofer  Altar  is  much  lighter  than  in  the 
Zwickau  Altar,  but  they  are  otherwise  very  sinxilar.  The  influence  of 
Hans  Pleydenwurff  is  marked  in  types,  composition  and  motifs.  We 
have  already  noted  this  influence  in  the  "Descent  from  the  Cross." 
Now  it  is  possible  directly  to  compare  the  two  artists  in  their  treat- 
ment of  a  subject,  as  Pleydenwurff's  "Crucifixion"  hangs  in  the 
same  room  as  Wolgemut's  in  Munich  Pinakothek.  Compare  figure 
with  figure.  How  finely  observed,  how  full  of  life,  how  plastic  in 
modelling,  how  sincere  in  spirit  are  Pleydenwurff's  people,  how 
conventional,  how  sodden  and  nerveless,  how  affected  those  of 
Wolgemut! 

Still  another  altar  which  would  seem,  upon  internal  evidence,  to 
have  been  done  at  an  earlier  date  than  that  in  Zwickau,  is  in  the 
church  in  Crailsheim  and  represents,  in  the  shrine,  the  Crucifixion; 
on  the  wings,  scenes  from  the  Passion  of  Christ  and  from  the  Life  of 
John  the  Baptist.  The  pictures  of  Christ  and  the  twelve  apostles 
with  saints,  on  the  predella,  are  not  Wolgemut's  but  the  work  of  some 
less  accomplished  painter.  This  altar  leaves  us  with  an  impression  of 
greater  sincerity  than  any  other  of  Michael  Wolgemut's  works.  The 
men,  women  and  children  presented  in  the  various  scenes  are  depicted 
with  veracity,  their  interest  seems  genuine,  their  emotion  real. 

To  the  same  period  as  the  Crailsheim  Altar — probably  between 
1474  and  1479 — belongs  the  large  Haller  Altar  in  the  little  Holy 


236  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

Cross  Chapel  in  Nuremberg.  This  altar  shows  such  great  variety 
of  workmanship  that  Vischer  and,  following  him,  several  other  au- 
thorities consider  it  the  work  of  three  artists  besides  Wolgemut. 
The  drawing  is  plainly  all  Wolgemut' s,  the  composition  and  many 
of  the  types  are  characteristic.  From  his  hand  exclusively  are  the 
pictures  on  the  inside  representing  the  Cross  Bearing  and  the 
Resurrection;  the  four  on  the  outer  sides  of  the  first  wings,  repre- 
senting the  Annunciation,  Birth  of  Christ,  Adoration  of  the  Magi, 
and  Presentation  are  partly  his  work,  and  are  next  in  worth,  while 
the  four  scenes  from  the  Life  of  the  Virgin  on  the  outside  of  the 
second  pair  of  wings  are  the  work  of  an  unskilled  pupil.  Thode 
considers  it  possible  that  this  is  a  work  of  Wolgemut's  middle  period, 
not  so  fine  or  true  as  the  Crailsheim  pictures,  but  marking  the 
transition  from  them  to  the  more  empty  and  insincere  work  of  his 
later  period. 

In  this  altar,  in  such  a  picture  as  the  Cross  Bearing,  a  new 
influence  makes  itself  felt — that  of  Martin  Schongauer.  In  all 
probability  this  influence  did  not  come  to  Wolgemut  through  direct 
knowledge  of  the  works  of  the  Colmar  master,  but  through  Hans 
Schlihlein,  whose  own  treatment  of  this  same  subject  in  the  Tiefen- 
bronn  Altar  contains  many  motifs  taken  from  Schongauer' s  engrav- 
ing. In  Wolgemut's  Altar  the  motif  of  Christ  propping  his  knee 
against  a  stone  to  get  better  hold  of  the  cross,  is  taken  from 
Schongauer,  and  the  three  warriors  to  the  extreme  left  of  the  picture 
are  almost  a  copy  of  the  group  in  the  middle  of  his  engraving. 

A  fifth  great  altar  from  Wolgemut's  hand,  that  in  the  parish 
church  in  Hersbriick,  is,  unfortunately,  not  preserved  as  an  entity, 
but  hangs  in  sections  in  the  chancel  of  the  church.  There  are  four- 
teen pictures  in  all;  two  large  ones,  the  "Birth  of  Christ"  and  the 
"  Death  of  the  Virgin,"  and  twelve  small  ones,  eight  of  which  repre- 
sent scenes  from  the  Passion  and  four,  which  are  the  work  of  a 
pupil,  picture  scenes  from  the  Life  of  the  Virgin.  The  types  in  the 
two  large  pictures  are  reminiscent  of  Schlihlein  and  are  round-faced, 
gentle  and  tender.  The  movement  is  so  excessive  that  the  very 
folds  of  the  garments  are  restless  and  disquieting.  A  clue  to 
the  date  of  the  painting  of  this  altar  is  given  by  the  fact  that  the 
drawings  for  the  window  to  the  right  of  the  choir  in  St.  Jacob's 


MICHAEL  WOLGEMUT  ^7 

Church,  Nuremberg,  bear  a  striking  resemblance  to  it.  As  this 
window  is  dated  1497  it  seems  probable  that  the  altar  was  painted 
about  that  time. 

Among  the  commissions  received  by  Michael  Wolgemut  were 
several  which,  as  is  quite  clear  from  the  testimony  of  the  works 
themselves,  he  did  not  execute  with  his  own  hand.  We  know  that 
he  did  not  paint  the  Schonbrunnen  in  Nuremberg,  as  he  was 
engaged  to  by  the  City  Council  in  1491,  for  the  records  prove  that 
his  stepson,  Wilhelm  Pleydenwurff,  received  payment  for  this  work. 
This  Wilhelm  Pleydenwurff  had  evidently  become  an  artist  of  repu- 
tation, since,  as  we  have  seen,  he  was  engaged  with  Wolgemut  to 
draw  the  illustrations  for  Hartmann  Schedel's  "World  Chronicle,"  and 
also  evidently  worked  with  his  stepfather  on  the  illustrations  of 
Koburger's  "Treasury"  (Schatzbehalter) ,  which  was  published  in  1491. 
To  him  is  now  attributed  the  Peringsdorffer  Altar  in  the  Germanic 
Museum,  for  which  Wolgemut  received  the  commission  in  1487  and 
which  was,  therefore,  formerly  accepted  without  question  as  his 
work. 

Much  controversy  has  been  waged  about  the  identity  of  the  artist 
who  painted  the  frescoes  in  the  City  Hall  in  Goslar.  It  is  recorded 
that,  in  1500,  Wolgemut  received  the  commission  to  paint  them  and 
that,  the  next  year,  in  recognition  of  their  beauty  and  as  a  token 
of  appreciation,  honorary  citizenship  in  Goslar  was  conferred  upon 
him;  but  the  evidence  of  the  works  themselves  points  unmistakably 
to  a  different  artist  of  distinct  individuality,  who  had  studied  in  the 
school  of  Wolgemut  and  who  knew  well  the  early  works  of  Dlirer. 

The  council  chamber  in  the  City  Hall  of  the  picturesque  old 
Harz  town  is  modest  and  quaint,  with  flat  ceiling  and  small,  deep 
windows.  Four  large  pictures  representing  the  Nativity,  Adoration, 
Presentation  and  Ascension  fill  the  middle  sections  of  the  ceiling,  and 
are  separated  from  one  another  by  heavy  wooden  frames;  prophets 
and  evangelists  occupy  the  sixteen  small  remaining  sections.  The 
walls  are  divided  by  very  slender,  finely  carved,  wooden  columns 
into  Gothic  panels  of  which  the  top  part  is  filled  with  decorative 
traceries  in  wood-carving.  In  the  three  panels  are  set,  alternately, 
the  figures  of  thirteen  sybils — including  the  Queen  of  Sheba — and 
twelve  kings,  with  Burgomaster  Johann  Papen;   in   the   window 


238  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

niches  are  the  patron  saints  of  Goslar:  Judas,  Thaddeus  and  Simon, 
also  the  Virgin  and  St.  Anne,  St.  Matthew  and  other  saints.  In  the 
tiny  chapel  adjoining  the  council  chamber  are  scenes  from  the  Passion, 
with  the  Trinity  and  the  Last  Judgment. 

Of  greatest  interest  are  the  kings  and  sybils,  who  are  given  in 
full  length,  each  standing  in  a  sort  of  loggia,  with  a  low  wall  as  a 
background,  over  the  top  of  which  we  can  see  the  landscape.  The 
kings  are  strongly  characterised  and  lifelike,  quick  in  movement 
and  tense  in  bearing.  The  sybils  resemble  closely  those  in  the 
Wolgemut-Pleydenwurff  illustrations  in  Schedel's  "Chronicle,"  and 
in  their  garments  and  attitudes  follow  closely  the  descriptions 
given  there. 

The  painter  of  these  frescoes  was  influenced  by  Dlirer  in  his 
treatment  of  the  draperies,  which  are  full  and  heavy  and  hang  in 
broken  folds,  and  also  in  his  landscapes,  which  are  very  similar 
to  those  in  Diirer's  early  works.  His  outlines  are  sharp,  his  colour- 
ing is  bright  but  without  much  depth,  and  is  rather  crudely  applied. 
He  is  a  nervous  and  sentimental  artist  who  represents  all  his  people 
as  keyed  up  to  a  high  emotional  pitch.  From  his  hand  are,  further, 
an  altar  in  the  Predigerkirche,  Erfurt,  and  an  altar  in  Brunswick 
Gallery,  dated  1506,  which  has  been,  by  some  historians,  ascribed 
to  Hans  Raphon.  It  is  upon  the  assumption  of  the  correctness  of 
this  ascription  that  Vischer  bases  his  attribution  of  these  Goslar 
frescoes  to  the  Saxon  master. 

The  last  commission  filled  by  Michael  Wolgemut  was  the  one 
already  referred  to  from  the  City  Council  of  Schwabach,  to  paint  for 
them  an  altar  "at  the  price  of  six  hundred  guldens,"  which  altar  was 
delivered  in  1508  and  is  still  in  St.  John's  Church  there. 

By  Veit  Stoss  are  wood  carvings  which  fill  the  shrine,  the  inner 
sides  of  the  first  pair  of  wings  and  the  predella  depicting  the  Corona- 
tion of  the  Virgin,  Adoration,  Resurrection,  Pentecost,  Death  of  the 
Virgin,  and  the  Last  Supper.  By  Wolgemut  are  the  pictures  on  the 
predella,  which  represent  the  Virgin,  Child  and  St.  Anna  with  John  the 
Baptist,  St.  Martin  and  St.  Elizabeth  and,  on  the  outside,  the  Entomb- 
ment. These  pictures  show  in  the  main  the  same  characteristics  as 
the  Zwickau  altar,  which  was  painted  between  twenty -five  and  thirty 


Photograph  by  Fried.  Hoefle,  Augsburg 

WILHELM  PLEYDENWURFF 

St.  Vitus  in  the  Lions'  Den 
germanic  museum,  nuremberg 


MICHAEL  WOLGEMUT  239 

years  earlier,  and  their  claims  to  attractiveness  are  based  on  the  same 
clean  drawing,  well-balanced  composition  and  clear,  warm  colouring. 

The  paintings  on  the  wings  of  the  altar  present  scenes  from  the 
lives  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  and  St.  Martin.  The  back  of  the  shrine 
contains  the  Madonna  and  Child,  Anna  and  Joachim.  The  figm-es 
are  full  of  life  and  motion,  but  it  is  a  purposeless  and  meaningless 
stir;  there  is  no  real  depth  of  feeling  in  those  tall  people  with  the 
small  heads  and  quick,  restless  glances.  The  types  are  angular, 
the  nude  forms  ill-proportioned,  the  profiles  out  of  drawing,  the  flesh 
tones  yellowish  and  dry.  On  account  of  the  resemblance  of  the  pic- 
tures on  these  wings  to  an  altar-piece  by  Hans  Schaufelein  in  the 
church  in  Ober  St.  Veit,  near  Vienna,  some  authorities  consider 
them  youthful  works  of  Schaufelein,  done  when  he  was  spending 
a  part  of  his  Wanderjahre  in  the  Nuremberg  master's  work- 
shop. 

It  is  not  at  all  to  be  wondered  at  that  Michael  Wolgemut  found 
himself  obliged  thus  to  entrust  the  execution  of  so  many  commissions, 
in  part  at  least,  to  his  pupils.  He  had  inherited  by  marriage  the 
school  of  Hans  Pleydenwurff ;  he  had  become  the  unchallenged  leader 
and  centre  of  art  life  in  Nuremberg,  attracting  about  him  gifted 
pupils  from  all  over  Germany,  who,  in  turn,  increased  his  fame,  until 
it  drew  to  him  from  all  quarters  orders  so  numerous  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  fill  them  all  personally.  He  therefore  compromised  by 
drawing  the  design  for  the  whole,  as  for  the  Holy  Cross  Chapel  altar, 
or  painting  with  his  own  hand  some  section,  as  the  predella  of  the 
Schwabach  altar,  and  left  the  rest  to  a  pupil,  or  pupils,  who  worked 
more  or  less  under  his  supervision. 

In  his  work  we  find  no  great  advance  over  that  of  earlier  artists, 
no  marked  originality  of  conception  or  depth  of  insight.  But  he 
was  a  clever  adapter  of  striking  features  in  his  predecessors  and  con- 
temporaries, a  skilled  technician,  a  virtuoso  who  managed  to  present 
an  appearance  of  something  akin  to  greatness  and  easily  mistaken 
for  it.  His  portrait  by  Diirer  reveals  him  as  a  man  of  good  practical 
and  business  sense;  but  in  the  sharp  eye,  the  firmly  compressed,  thin 
lips  is  little  of  the  sentiment,  the  imagination,  or  the  vision  which 
may  not  be  lacking  in  a  great  creative  artist. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 

NUREMBERG 

WILHELM  PLEYDENWURFF 

TO  Wilhelm  Pleydenwurff,  son  of  Hans  Pleydenwurff,  stepson 
of  Michael  Wolgemut,  painter  of  the  Schonbrimnen  and  asso- 
ciate illustrator  of  SchedeFs  "Chronicle,"  recent  research* 
ascribes  the  Peringsdorffer  Altar,  one  of  the  most  interesting  works 
of  the  XV  century.  It  was  given  by  Sebald  PeringsdOrffer 
about  1488,  for  the  High  Altar  of  St.  Augustine's  Church,  Nuremberg, 
but  it  is  now  in  sections  in  the  Germanic  Museum  and  the  Lorenz- 
kirche.  The  shrine,  which  contained,  in  wood-carving,  the  figures 
of  the  Madonna  and  two  saints,  has  disappeared.  On  the  inner  sides 
of  the  inner  wings  are  represented  St.  Luke  painting  the  Madonna, 
the  Martyrdom  of  St.  Sebastian,  St.  Bernhard  receiving  the  Dead 
Christ,  and  St.  Christopher  carrying  the  Holy  Child.  On  the  other 
wings  of  the  altar  are  scenes  from  the  legend  of  St.  Vitus,  five 
of  which  are  in  the  Germanic  Museum  and  two  in  the  Lorenz- 
kirche.  On  the  outside  of  the  altar  are,  in  pairs.  Saints  John  the 
Baptist  and  Nicholas,  Catherine  and  Barbara,  Rosalie  and  Margaret, 
George  and  Sebald.  On  the  predella  are  Saints  Cosmos  and  Damian, 
Magdalen  and  Lucia,  and,  on  the  back,  the  Martyrdom  of  the  Nico- 
median  Ten  Thousand  and  of  St.  Ursula  and  her  Ten  Thousand 
Virgins.  Naturally,  the  most  important  pictures  are  those  on  the 
inner  sides  of  the  wings.  In  the  upper  section  of  one  panel  the  com- 
position of  "St.  Luke  painting  the  Virgin"  recalls  that  of  Jan  van 
Eyck*s  picture  with  the  same  subject,  yet  is  very  different  in  spirit 
from  the  work  of  the  Flemish  Master.  The  youthful  St.  Luke,  in  full, 
gracefully  draped  garments,  is  seated  in  a  room  before  his  easel, 
painting  busily.  Through  the  window  a  fine  view  is  given  of  a  land- 
scape with  mountains  and  a  fortified  town.  In  an  adjoining  room, 
which  opens  into  the  one  in  which  the  painter  works,  are  the  Virgin 
and  Child,  nearer  to  whose  high  dignity  the  painter  dares  not  ap- 

*  Thode:     Malerschule  von  Nurnberg. 

240 


WILHELM  PLEYDENWURFF  241 

proach.  Yet  the  Virgin  is  a  very  gentle  young  mother  and 
the  Child  winsome  and  full  of  life.  Beside  them,  to  the  left,  a  fire  is 
burning  in  an  open  fireplace;  to  the  right  is  a  vase  of  flowers,  some  of 
which  are  strewed  on  the  floor.  The  poses  are  all  simple  and  unaf- 
fected; the  atmosphere  breathes  tenderness. 

Below  this  picture,  in  the  lower  half  of  the  panel,  the  "Martyrdom 
of  St.  Sebastian  "  shows  the  young  saint,  with  ringleted  hair,  bound  to 
a  tree  trunk  and  already  sinking  into  unconsciousness  from  the  arrow 
wounds.  He  stands  in  a  flowery  meadow  which  expands  in  the  back- 
ground into  a  wide  landscape.  One  villainous-looking  wretch  is  tak- 
ing aim  at  him,  another  is  spanning  his  bow,  a  third  is  simply  looking 
on.  A  haughty  potentate  on  horseback  and  attended  by  an  oflScial 
escort  directs  the  proceedings. 

On  the  upper  section  of  the  second  panel,  is  represented  St. 
Bernhard  kneeling  at  the  foot  of  the  cross  and  receiving  the  body 
of  the  Redeemer  in  his  arms.  The  saint  is  sincere  and  earnest;  his 
whole  soul  goes  out  in  tender  yet  intense  adoration  to  his  Saviom*, 
whose  sacred  body  he  embraces.  In  the  landscape  in  the  back- 
ground are  mountains,  trees,  shrubs,  and  a  house  which  is  reflected 
in  a  stream. 

In  the  lower  section,  St.  Christopher,  a  large,  strong,  kindly- 
looking  peasant,  strides  mightily  through  the  stream,  his  garments 
blown  by  the  wind,  his  eyes  fixed  in  wondering  faith  on  the  Child  he 
bears  on  his  shoulder. 

The  scenes  from  the  Life  of  St.  Vitus,  which,  when  the  altar  was 
entire,  were  seen  when  the  wings  were  closed,  follow  the  coiu*se  of  the 
legend  as  told  by  Jacobus  a  Voragine,  and  represent  St.  Vitus  tempted 
by  fair  damsels  by  the  command  of  his  father;  St.  Vitus  in  the  den 
of  lions  into  which  he  had  been  thrown  by  order  of  the  Emperor 
Diocletian;  the  scourging  of  St.  Vitus;  St.  Vitus  and  his  adherents 
tied  to  crosses,  and  the  punishment  of  his  persecutors  by  the  miracu- 
lous descent  of  hail  from  heaven;  St.  Vitus  healing  a  man  possessed 
of  the  devil;  St.  Vitus  and  his  friends,  St.  Crescentia  and  St.  Modestus, 
tortured  in  boiling  oil — these  all  in  the  Germanic  Museum;  St.  Vitus 
and  his  friends  kneeHng  on  the  seashore  while  an  angel  receives  their 
souls,  and  St.  Vitus  refusing  to  worship  idols,  in  the  Lorenzkirche. 
The  last-named  picture  is  signed  with  the  initials  R.  F.  and  is,  with 


242  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

the  other  picture  from  the  series  in  the  church  and  with  the  "Healing 
of  the  Man  Possessed  of  a  Devil,"  and  the  "  Martyrdom  in  Boiling  Oil," 
the  work  of  a  different  painter — a  pupil  or  possibly  a  fellow  student. 
The  modelling  is  wooden,  the  colouring  dry  compared  with  Pleyden- 
wurff's.  In  the  "Healing  of  the  Man  Possessed"  there  is  introduced 
among  the  bystanders  a  youth  who  looks  so  much  like  Durer  that  it 
seems  quite  probable  that  it  is  actually  a  portrait,  done  by  a  fellow- 
pupil  in  Wolgemut's  workshop.  The  initials  R.  F.  signed  to  the 
picture  in  the  Lorenzkirche  would  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  this 
fellow-pupil  was  Rueland  Frueauf  the  Younger,  a  deduction  which 
is  further  supported  by  the  resemblance  of  several  of  the  people  pic- 
tured on  this  panel  to  those  in  his  father's  altar  in  Ratisbon. 

In  the  scenes  painted  by  Wilhelm  Pleydenwurff,  the  conceptions 
are  naive  and  childlike,  the  representations  absolutely  literal  and 
given  in  the  spirit  of  unquestioning  faith.  In  the  "Tempting  of  St. 
Vitus,"  the  father,  with  an  expression  of  countenance  worldly,  cynical, 
almost  leering,  tries  to  place  his  young  son's  hand  in  that  of  one  of 
the  fair  damsels  with  whom  he  is  surrounded.  Over  his  shoulder 
a  large-featured  man,  looking  out  at  the  spectator,  is  apparently 
asking  how  a  father  can  possibly  do  such  a  thing;  angels  to  the 
left,  in  the  background,  are  visibly  concerned  and  distressed.  The 
"St.  Vitus  in  the  Lions'  Den"  is  given  with  such  literalness  that  it  is 
practically  a  genre  picture.  The  boyish  saint  is  an  appealing  figure 
as  he  kneels  in  prayer  with  angels  watching  over  him;  men  in  an 
interesting  variety  of  costumes  of  the  period,  peep  through  the  cracks 
in  the  fence,  flattening  their  noses  to  see  what  is  happening.  The 
lions,  it  is  true,  look  more  like  andirons  than  like  living  beasts,  but 
that  they  are  really  by  nature  very  blood-thirsty  creatures  is  thor- 
oughly established  by  the  pile  of  clean-picked  bones  in  the  middle 
of  the  den! 

On  the  outer  sides  of  the  wings  the  eight  saints  are  presented  in 
pairs,  standing  on  Gothic  pedestals  which  are  supported  by  branching 
vine  stems,  which  are  held  up,  in  their  turn,  by  lions,  children,  goats 
or  wild  men.  On  the  vines  many  birds  have  alighted;  the  ground 
below  is  a  garden  of  lilies  and  small  flowers.  The  women  are  noble 
and  tender,  the  men  dignified  and  stately,  and,  in  some  cases,  so  lifelike 
as  to  suggest  that  they  are  portrait  figures;  such  an  one  is  St.  Sebald, 


WILHELM  PLEYDENWURFF  243 

who  carries  a  model  of  his  church  and  who,  judging  by  looks,  bear- 
ing and  costume,  might  have  been  indeed  its  real  builder,  portrayed 
from  life. 

Wilhelm  Pleydenwurff's  types  in  the  PeringsdOrffer  Altar  have 
longer,  narrower  faces  than  Wolgemut's  people;  their  hands,  too, 
are  characteristic;  they  are  long  with  bony  fingers  with  prominent 
joints,  and  are  held  angularly,  whereas  the  hands  of  Wolgemut's 
figures  have  practically  no  bony  construction,  but  are  fat  and  puffy 
in  the  body  of  the  hand,  with  tapering  fingers.  The  expression  worn 
by  almost  all  Pleydenwurff's  people  is  one  of  gentleness  and  confid- 
ing simplicity.  These  are  yielding,  trusting  people  with  credulous, 
imaginative  natures,  strong  only  in  faith  and  in  power  to  suffer 
for  that  faith.  On  the  technical  side  a  definite  attempt  at  an 
effect  of  chiaroscuro  is  evident  in  the  treatment  of  such  heads  as 
those  in  "St.  Christopher"  and  "St.  Vitus  in  the  Lion's  Den,"  and  at 
striking  lighting  in  the  landscapes,  as  that  in  the  "St.  Bernhard 
receiving  the  Body  of  Christ,"  and  in  the  shadows  on  the  water  in 
the  foreground  of  "St.  Christopher  bearing  the  Christ  Child."  The 
colours  are  warm,  rich  and  filled  with  light;  the  trees,  shrubs  and 
other  details  of  the  landscape  are  drawn  and  coloured  with  minute 
care. 

The  Peringsdorffer  Altar  reveals  an  original,  interesting  person- 
ality, very  different  from  any  other  expressed  in  Nuremberg  art. 
His  limitations  are,  it  is  true,  as  marked  as  his  gifts;  passion,  intensity 
and  dramatic  force  are  absent  from  his  pictures.  But  he  possesses 
a  feeling  for  beauty  of  form  and  a  considerable  gift  for  colour,  which, 
with  the  quaint  literalness  of  his  conceptions,  lend  his  pictures  a 
peculiar  attractiveness. 


CHAPTER  XXXV 

NUREMBERG 

MINOR  PAINTERS 

Nuremberg  :    Jacob  Eisner — Master  of  the  Sending  out  of  the  Apostles — 

Hans  Trautt— Wolf  Trautt. 
Bamberg:    Hans  Wolf — Wolfgang  Katzheimer. 

BESIDES    Hans     Pleydenwurff,     Michael     Wolgemut     and 
Wilhelm  Pleydenwurff,  there  were  several  lesser  masters  in 
Nuremberg  in  the   second  half  of  the  XV  century  whose 
works  have  come  down  to  us. 

NeudorfJer  in  his  "Notes  on  Artists  and  Craftsmen,  1547," 
writes  of  an  artist,  Jacob  Eisner,  who,  he  says,  "  was  an  illuminator 
who  was  welcomed  by  all  the  patrician  families  of  Nuremberg,  and 
who,  moreover,  played  on  the  lute  so  well  that  such  great  artists  in 
organ  playing  as  Sebastian  Imhof,  Wilhelm  Haller  and  Lorenz  Stai- 
ber,  with  their  companions,  were  very  fond  of  him  and  daily  in  his 
company.  He  painted  their  portraits,  illuminated  for  them  beau- 
tiful books  and  made  them  coats-of-arms. "  From  Jacob  Eisner's 
hand  we  have,  in  Augsburg  Gallery,  a  signed  portrait  painted  in 
1471,  of  a  young  man,  whose  name,  according  to  the  inscription, 
was  Jorg  Ketzler  the  Elder.  Its  sharp  drawing,  fineness  of  detail 
and  lack  of  freedom  in  the  larger  proportions  reveal  the  fact  that  the 
artist  was  a  miniature  painter.  Thode  attributes  to  him  also  a  small 
picture  in  a  glass  case  in  the  Bavarian  National  Museum,  Munich, 
which  has  on  one  of  the  wings  a  portrait  of  Conrad  Imhof,  on  the 
other,  the  coat-of-arms  of  the  family,  an  allegorical  figure,  and  the 
inscription  "Conrad  Imhof,  23  years  old,  1486."  Ascribed  to  him 
are  also  the  miniatures  in  the  so-called  "Goose  Book"  (Das 
Gansebuch)  in  the  sacristy  of  the  Lorenzkirche  in  Nuremberg.  This 
is  a  book  of  the  mass,  the  commission  for  the  compiling  and  illumin- 
ating of  which  was  given  by  Anton  Kress  in  1513.  The  two  volumes 
of  the  book,  intended  for  winter  and  summer,  contain  the  readings 
for  the  Holy  Days  throughout  the  year.     The  marginal  illustrations 

S44 


MINOR  PAINTERS  245 

are  fanciful,  even  whimsical  and  humorous.  The  one  from  which 
the  book  was  named  the  "Goose-Book'*  decorates  the  margin  of  the 
reading  for  Ascension  Day  with  geese  singing,  with  the  wolf  as 
leader  and  the  fox  as  an  assistant. 

To  a  painter  named  from  his  work  "The  Master  of  the  Sending 
out  of  the  Apostles"  is  now  ascribed  a  picture  in  Munich  Pinakothek, 
formerly  attributed  to  Wolgemut,  which  represents  the  apostles 
taking  leave  of  one  another  to  "go  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the 
Gospel."  The  scene  is  laid  in  a  landscape,  in  the  foreground  of 
which  is  a  fountain  at  which  John  is  getting  water  in  a  finely  shaped 
pitcher.  Peter  is  drinking  from  a  pilgrim's  flask  to  refresh  himself 
for  his  journey  to  Italy.  James  the  Elder  is  bidding  him  farewell 
and  pointing  in  the  direction  he  will  take  to  Judea;  Thomas  has  al- 
ready started  on  his  long  journey  to  India;  Bartholomew  and  Andrew 
are  embracing  each  other  in  farewell;  Philip  is  accompanying  James 
the  Less  a  short  distance  on  his  way  and  is  apparently  giving  him 
good  advice;  in  the  distance  we  see  Matthias,  Thaddeus  and  Matthew, 
who  have  started  on  their  several  ways  to  Palestine,  Mesopotamia  and 
Persia.  The  picture  shows  in  a  marked  degree  the  influence  of  Wilhelm 
Pleydenwurff;  such  a  type  as  that  of  St.  John  may  be  found  in  Pley- 
denwurff's  own  pictures,  while  the  atmosphere  of  dreamy  sentimen- 
taUty  bears  witness  to  a  kindred  temperament. 

A  somewhat  later  artist  was  the  Master  of  the  High  Altar  in 
Heilsbronn — another  work,  which  was  formerly  attributed  to  Michael 
Wolgemut.  The  altar  was  erected  by  Frederick  IV,  Margrave  of 
Brandenburg,  and  his  wife  Sophie,  in  1502,  and  represents,  in  the 
central  section,  in  wood-carving,  the  Adoration  of  the  Kings;  on  the 
painted  wings,  the  Annunciation,  Nativity,  Presentation  in  the 
Temple,  Assumption  of  the  Virgin,  Mass  of  St.  Gregory,  and 
Crucifixion;  on  the  back  wall  of  the  shrine,  the  Trinity,  with  St.  Francis 
of  Assisi  and  a  bishop,  the  Virgin  and  five  saints,  St.  Gereon  and 
seven  warrior  saints,  St.  Ursula  with  her  Virgins  and  the  Pope. 

It  is  recorded  that  a  Master  from  Spires,  called  Hans  of  Spires, 
and  probably  identical  with  the  painter  referred  to  as  Hans  Trautt 
of  Spires,  worked  in  Heilsbronn  from  1488  to  1495,  painting 
frescoes  in  the  Abbey  representing  scenes  from  the  legend  of  St. 
Bernhard,  and  a  panel   for  St.   Nicholas's  Chapel,  portraying  its 


246  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

titular  saint.  It  seems,  therefore,  quite  probable  that  this  Hans 
Trautt  of  Spires  was  the  Master  of  the  Heilsbronn  Altar.  Unfor- 
tunately only  one  authentic  work  remains  to  give  an  idea  of  the 
character  of  this  artist's  work — a  coloured  drawing  of  St.  Sebastian 
in  the  University  Library  in  Erlangen.  This  drawing  was  once  in 
the  possession  of  DUrer  who  wrote  on  it,  "This  was  done  by  Hans 
Trautt  at  Nornwerckkg. " 

The  colours  in  the  Heilsbronn  Altar  are  light  and  cheerful, 
and  very  similar  to  those  employed  in  the  altar  by  Wolf  Trautt,  son 
of  Hans,  which  is  in  the  Bavarian  National  Museum,  Munich.  The 
flesh  tones  are  very  fair  and  slightly  yellowish,  the  figures  are  re- 
strained in  movement.  The  artist  is  tolerably  successful  with  the 
perspective  and  his  technique  is  facile. 

A  son  of  Hans  Trautt,  the  Wolf  Trautt  above  mentioned,  was 
a  pupil  of  Durer  and  properly  belongs  to  the  XVI  century.  His 
chief  work  is  the  altar  already  referred  to,  in  the  National  Museum 
in  Munich,  which  is  signed  with  his  monogram  ■\;S/ and  dated  1514 
and  which  reveals  the  influence  of  Dlirer  and  of  Hans  von  Kulmbach. 
It  represents  the  Holy  Family,  St.  Lawrence,  eight  male  and  two 
female  saints  and,  on  the  outside  of  the  altar,  four  saints  and  the 
coat-of-arms  of  the  donors.  The  work  is  not  of  any  great  degree  of 
beauty.  The  figures  are  very  slender,  the  heads  disproportionately 
small,  but  carefully,  indeed  minutely,  modelled;  the  colours  are 
cheerful. 

BAMBERG 

In  the  neighbouring  city  of  Bamberg  worked  some  masters  from 
the  schools  of  Wolgemut  and  Pleydenwurff.  Such  an  one  was  Hans 
Wolf,  who  appears  in  the  records  from  1508  to  1538,  and  who  painted 
the  eight  panels  with  scenes  from  the  legends  of  St.  Clara,  the  disciple 
of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  which  are  in  Bamberg  Gallery.  In  spite  of 
the  fact  that  these  pictures  are  badly  damaged,  one  can  still  see  the 
careful  detail  of  the  landscapes,  the  clean,  definite  drawing  and  strong 
brown  colouring.  This  Hans  Wolf  it  was  who,  with  another  painter, 
Lucas  Benedict,  welcomed  Durer  on  his  arrival  in  Bamberg  in 
1520. 


MINOR  PAINTERS  247 

Another  Bamberg  master  frequently  named  in  the  chronicles 
was  Wolfgang  Katzheimer,  mentioned  in  the  years  between  1487 
and  1508.  His  first  large  commission  was  for  the  drawings  for  the 
Maximilian  and  Bamberg  windows  in  the  choir  of  St.  Sebald's 
Church,  Nuremberg.  He  designed  the  three  monuments  in  Bam- 
berg Cathedral — those  of  Prince-Bishop  George  II,  Gross-Trocken 
and  Pommersfelden — which  were  cast  in  Peter  Vischer's  workshop. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 

NUREMBERG 
ALBRECHT  DtRER 

THE  XVI  ceirtury  found  Nuremberg  the  chief  centre  of  the 
intellectual  and  artistic  life  of  Germany.  That  cultural  wave, 
the  Humanistic  Movement,  sweeping  over  Europe,  left  its 
impress  strongly,  so  that  scholarship,  science,  travel,  literature  and 
art  might  almost  be  said  to  absorb  the  attention  of  thoughtful  men, 
and  learning  and  enlightenment  to  become  universal.  Ulrich  von 
Hutten  in  his  "Triumph  of  Dr.  Reuchlin"  could  cry  out:  "O  Cen- 
tury! Science  gains  ground,  spirits  wax  strong,  barbarism  is  exorcised; 
it  is  a  joy  to  live!" 

The  revival  of  the  classics,  the  exhuming  of  masterpieces  of  art 
in  the  land  to  the  south  of  them,  stirred  the  Germans,  not  to  imita- 
tion but  to  fresh  and  independent  thought,  to  original  conceptions 
and  undertakings.  The  ideals  and  standards  of  a  former  age  were 
not  accepted  in  place  of  a  spontaneous  expression  of  themselves,  an 
alien  people  in  a  different  age,  but  technique  was  improved  and  more 
perfect  proportion  induced  by  the  study  of  the  masterpieces  of  antique 
art.  The  visible  and  permanent  effect  in  Germany  was  greater  in 
art  than  in  literature,  since  painting,  engraving  and  woodcuts,  rather 
than  poetry,  were  the  means  of  expression  in  Germany  in  that  age. 
The  beauty  of  the  antique,  together  with  the  universal  spirit  of  investi- 
gation, impelled  the  artists  to  discover  laws  and  principles  of  art,  and 
Nuremberg's  supremely  great  artist,  Albrecht  DUrer,  was  the  first 
to  make  minute  and  comprehensive  theoretical  observations  and  to 
give  them  to  his  contemporaries  in  the  form  of  written  instruction. 
Diirer  spared  no  pains  in  studying  art  principles  and  recording  the 
results  of  his  investigations.  Thus,  he  wrote  from  Venice,  in  1506,  to 
Willibald  Pirkheimer,  the  Nuremberg  statesman,  humanist  and  patron 
of  arts  and  letters,  that,  before  returning  to  Nuremberg  he  would  visit 
Bologna,  where,  he  had  learned,  was  a  man — ^Luca  Pacioli,  the  friend 

248 


ALBRECHT  DURER  249 

of  Leonardo  da  Vinci? — who  could  teach  him  much  about  perspective 
and  human  proportions.  This  information,  together  with  the  results 
of  life-long,  patient  study,  he  incorporated  later  in  a  four- volume 
work,  *' Human  Proportions." 

But  the  discovery  of  the  masterpieces  of  antique  art,  and  the 
formulating  of  laws  and  principles  did  not  change  or  vitally  affect 
the  nature  and  characteristics  of  German  art.  Possibly  the  fact  that, 
in  Germany,  the  Reformation  coincided  in  point  of  time  with  the 
Renaissance  was  in  some  measure  responsible  for  this.  The  endea- 
vour of  the  reformers  to  get  beyond  symbols  to  realities,  and  their 
impressive  and  convincing  setting  forth  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ 
as  the  way  of  human  redemption,  doubtless  turned  the  attention 
of  the  artists  from  classical  and  mythological  themes  and  even,  to 
some  extent,  from  such  sacred  subjects  as  are  pictorially  beautiful, 
toward  the  portrayal  of  the  emotional  and  tragic  moments  in  the 
life  of  Christ.  Thus,  in  spite  of  the  advance  in  formal  proportion, 
modelling,  perspective  and  other  technical  points,  expression  of  inner, 
emotional  life  remained  the  ideal  of  Diirer  even  as  it  had  been  of  the 
earliest  German  painters,  and  he  remained  involuntarily  true  to  it, 
even  at  the  cost,  sometimes,  of  clearness,  simplicity,  and  artistic 
restraint.  This  persistent,  inherent  ideal  of  German  art  was  never 
superseded  by  any  other  standards  or  canons;  as  long  as  it  remained 
Germany  expression  was  its  key-note.  Thus  in  all  stages  of  its 
development,  we  find  that  it  has  frequently  disregarded  outward 
beauty  of  form  in  its  intentness  upon  revealing  the  inner  life.  From 
the  beginning  to  DUrer  the  essential  Germanic  element  in  art  is  the 
subordination  of  the  representation  of  the  external,  the  superficial, 
the  phenomenal,  to  the  revelation  or  expression  of  the  real,  the 
inward,  which  was  also  the  object  of  the  quest  of  the  German 
philosophers  from  the  Mystics  to  Kant  and  Schopenhauer. 

From  Dtirer's  own  family  chronicle  we  learn  that  his  father 
came  to  Nuremberg  from  Hungary  in  1455,  worked  there  twelve 
years  as  goldsmith  with  Hieronymus  Holper,  and  married,  when 
forty  years  old,  Holper's  fifteen  year  old  daughter,  Barbara — "a 
pretty,  erect  young  woman."  Of  their  eighteen  children  Albrecht 
was  the  third.  His  birth  was  recorded  by  his  father:  "At  six 
o'clock,  on  St.  Prudentius'  Day,  the  Friday  of  Holy  Week  (May  21st) 


250  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

1471,  my  wife  bore  another  son,  to  whom  Anton  Koburger  was  god- 
father and  he  named  him  Albreeht  after  me. " 

The  boy  entered  his  father's  workshop  to  learn  the  goldsmith's 
art;  but  all  his  inclination  was  toward  painting.  At  barely  thirteen 
years  of  age  he  made  the  portrait-drawing  of  himself  which  is 
in  the  Albertina,  Vienna,  on  which  he  wrote:  "I  made  this  picture 
of  myself  by  looking  in  a  mirror,  in  1484,  when  I  was  a  child. "  It 
shows  a  slender  boy  with  delicate  features,  his  hair  falling  to  the 
nape  of  his  neck,  his  eyes  slightly  staring  because  of  looking  in  the 
glass  so  intently,  wrapped  in  a  large,  loose  garment  and  wearing  a 
cap.  With  the  index  finger  of  his  right  hand  he  is  pointing — prob- 
ably at  his  reflection.  The  picture  is  surprising  in  the  feeling  for 
space  shown  in  the  placing  of  the  figure,  in  the  realisation  of  materials 
in  the  folds  of  the  garments,  in  the  light  and  fine  yet  assured  lines 
of  the  drawing;  it  is  most  appealing  in  its  utter  simplicity  and  in  the 
boy's  unconscious  revelation  of  his  own  dreamy,  artist  nature. 

In  his  fourteenth  year,  he  drew  the  "Virgin  and  Child  Enthroned," 
with  two  tall  angels  standing  beside  the  throne  making  music,  which 
is  in  Berlin  Print  Room.  As  might  be  expected,  the  figures  betray 
the  youth's  imperfect  knowledge  of  the  structure  of  the  human 
form.  The  Virgin's  left  hand  and  arm,  for  instance,  are  out 
of  drawing;  but  again  we  are  struck  by  the  feeling  for  space  in  the 
composition  of  the  picture  and  by  the  treatment  of  the  masses  of 
material  in  the  garments.  The  angel  at  the  left  possesses  distinct 
individuality;  even  at  this  early  date,  the  pose,  the  treatment  of  hair 
and  garments  are  characteristic  and  may  be  called  "Diireresque." 
Beyond  this,  the  affectionate  tenderness  with  which  the  child  seeks 
to  gain  the  attention  of  his  mother,  who  is  lost  in  thought,  and  the 
happy  earnestness  of  the  angels,  reveal  depths  of  feeling  and  insight 
which  are  amazing  in  a  mere  boy. 

At  last  his  father  yielded  to  his  wish  and  apprenticed  him  to 
Michael  Wolgemut  to  learn  painting.  For  three  years  he  worked 
with  him  on  the  technique  of  his  art,  years  of  which  he  writes — *'  God 
granted  me  industry  so  that  I  learned  much,  though  I  had  a  good 
deal  to  bear  from  my  fellow  students. "  Then,  in  1490,  he  set  out  on 
the  customary  Wanderjahre.  Before  leaving  home,  however,  he 
painted  the  UflSzi  portrait  of  his  father,  holding  a  rosary,  on  which 


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From  a  Reproduction  by  J.  L.  Schrag,  Nuremberg 


ALBRECHT  DURER 
Portrait  of  Himself  at  the  Age  of  Thirteen  (Drawing) 

ALBERTINA,    ViENNA 


ALBRECHT  DURER  251 

appears  for  the  first  time  the  monogram     /qI    with  which  he  ever 

afterward  signed  his  works.  Though  badly  restored,  the  painting  is 
lifeHke  and  strong  and  makes  us  know  the  man  as  Diirer  describes 
him  in  his  diary:  "My  dear  father  passed  his  life  in  great  toil, 
in  difficult  and  arduous  labour,  having  only  what  he  earned  by  his 
handiwork  to  support  his  wife  and  family.  His  possessions  were 
few  and  in  his  life  he  experienced  many  tribulations,  struggles  and 
reverses  of  all  sorts,  but  all  who  knew  him  had  a  good  word  to  say  of 
him,  for  he  clung  to  the  conduct  of  a  good  and  honourable  Christian. 
He  brought  up  his  children  in  the  fear  of  God,  that  they  should  be 
acceptable  to  God  and  men;  therefore  he  admonished  us  daily  to 

love  God  and  act  honourably  toward  all  men He  was  a 

patient  and  gentle  man,  at  peace  with  all  men  and  full  of  gratitude 
to  God." 

DUrer's  wanderings  took  him  to  Strassburg,  where  he  studied 
for  a  time,  going  on  from  there  probably  to  Augsburg,  then  to  Colmar, 
where  he  hoped  to  learn  much  from  the  great  Schongauer.  When 
he  reached  Colmar,  however,  he  found  that  Martin  Schongauer  was 
no  more,  but  had  been  cut  off  by  death  in  his  very  prime.  He  seems 
to  have  remained  some  time  in  the  workshop  with  Martin's  brother, 
Ludwig  Schongauer,  who  had  assumed  the  direction  of  the  Colmar 
school,  for  as  a  souvenir  of  his  stay  there  he  brought  home  with  him 
to  Nuremberg  a  copy  of  a  pencil  drawing  by  Martin,  representing 
the  Presentation  in  the  Temple,  which  is  now  in  the  British 
Museum. 

In  1494  the  painter  was  again  in  Nuremberg,  betrothed,  and,  two 
months  later,  married.  "When  I  arrived  home,"  he  wrote  in  his 
diary,  "Hans  Frey  entered  into  negotiations  with  my  father  and 
gave  me  his  daughter  named  Agnes  and  gave  me,  besides,  two  hundred 
gulden,  and  had  the  wedding  on  the  Monday  before  St.  Margaret's 
Day,  in  the  year  1494. "  Probably  the  artist's  portrait  of  himself 
which  is  now  in  the  collection  of  Comte  de  Pastre,  Paris,*  had  been 
sent  on  to  the  young  lady  before  Diirer' s  return  to  Nuremberg,  to 
plead  his  cause  for  him.  It  presents  the  artist  as  an  elegant  youth, 
handsomely  dressed,  holding  in  his  hand  a  sprig  of  the  plant  called 
Mannestreue  (Man's  Faithfulness).     Underneath  is  a  writing  which 

•  A  fine  old  XVI  century  copy  is  in  Leipsic  Gallery. 


252  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

seems  to  refer  to  the  significance  of  the  flower:  "My  affairs  go  as 
above  indicated. " 

He  made  drawings  of  his  wife  at  various  times,  as  the  one  marked 
"Mein  Agnes"  in  the  Albertina,  the  drawing  in  silver  crayon  in 
Bremen  Kunsthalle,  the  drawing  in  Berlin,  in  which  she  is  wearing 
a  Flemish  costume,  the  water-colour  sketch  of  1500  in  the  Ambro- 
siana  in  Milan,  and  others.  She  does  not  seem  to  have  brought 
much  inspiration  or  even  joyousness  into  his  life,  however,  for 
Pirkheimer,  who  must  have  known  well  whereof  he  spoke,  wrote 
in  a  letter  after  Durer's  death:  "Agnes  worried  Albrecht  into  his 
grave.  She  was  virtuous  and  pious,  but  I,  for  my  part,  would  prefer 
a  light  person,  who  behaved  in  a  friendly  way,  to  such  a  nagging, 
suspicious,  pious  woman. " 

In  these  first  years  after  DUrer's  return  to  Nuremberg  he  and 
his  wife  lived  in  his  father's  house,  and  it  was  not  until  after  his 
father  died  in  1509,  that  he  bought  the  so-called  "DUrer  House" — 
now  in  possession  of  the  City  of  Nuremberg — where  his  mother  lived 
with  him.  The  young  man,  whose  time  was  not  yet  fully  occupied 
with  the  execution  of  commissions,  busied  himself  with  making  copies 
of  engravings  by  Mantegna  and  other  famous  masters,  studies  of  the 
nude,  of  animals  and  still-life.  In  this  period,  as  indeed  throughout 
his  whole  life,  he  unwearyingly  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  nature. 
"The  one  test  of  an  artist's  conceptions  is  nature,"  he  wrote;  "there- 
fore study  her  industriously;  for  truly,  art  sticks  fast  in  nature  and 
he  who  can  get  it  out,  has  it. " 

His  first  commission  was  for  an  altar-piece  for  the  Schlosskirche 
in  Wittenberg,  which  is  now  in  Dresden  Gallery  and  represents  the 
Virgin  and  Child,  St.  Anthony  and  St.  Sebastian.  The  Child,  who 
lies  sleeping  on  a  cushion,  is  plump  and  rounded  in  form,  the  cherubs 
in  the  decorative  vines  behind  the  two  saints  are  sturdy  and  very 
active  and  gay.  The  Virgin  is  kneeling  in  adoration  of  her  divine 
Son.  St.  Anthony,  his  fine,  strong  hands  clasped  over  a  book,  is 
lost  in  thought;  St.  Sebastian  bends  worshipful  glances  on  the 
Babe.  On  the  table  in  front  of  the  saints  are  various  still-life 
accessories,  as  a  pear,  a  glass  with  water  and  a  flower,  and  an  hour- 
glass. Doubtless  this  Wittenberg  commission  came  to  the  artist 
from  the  Elector  Frederick  the  Wise  of  Saxony,  who,  at  the  same 


ALBRECHT  DURER  253 

time,  sat  for  the  water-colour  portrait  now  in  Berlin  Gallery,  which 
was  probably  the  first  portrait  of  any  one  outside  his  own  family 
painted  by  Dlirer. 

From  1497  dates  the  very  unusual  portrait,  in  Augsburg  Gallery, 
of  the  youthful  Margareta  Fiirleger,  her  wonderful  golden  hair  falling 
about  her  shoulders,  her  eyes  downcast,  her  hands  folded  as  if  in 
prayer.  Its  atmosphere  of  reverential  seriousness  makes  it  seem 
probable  that  this  portrait  was  a  study  for  a  Madonna  picture.  In 
the  same  year  was  painted  the  portrait  of  his  father  which  is  in  the 
collection  of  the  Duke  of  Northumberland;  in  the  next  year  the 
half  length  portrait  of  himself  which  is  in  the  Prado.*  It  presents 
him  as  a  young  man  dressed  in  the  height  of  fashion,  with  frank, 
direct  gaze  and  great  nobiUty  of  expression  and  bearing. 

During  these  years  in  which  he  was  engaged  on  his  commission 
from  Frederick  the  Wise  and  on  these  portraits,  that  is,  between  1496 
and  1498,  Dlirer  made  the  series  of  fifteen  large  woodcuts  of  the 
Apocalypse.  The  strength,  vigour,  energy  and  power,  the  onward 
rush,  the  furious  sweep  in  these  scenes  is  bewildering,  almost 
overwhelming;  but  not  less  impressive  is  their  dignity,  their  refine- 
ment and  their  infinite  detail. 

The  title  page  shows  the  youthful  John  kneeling  before  God 
the  Father,  who  is  enthroned  upon  the  arch  of  heaven,  among  the 
clouds,  and  holds  in  his  right  hand  the  seven  stars,  in  his  left  the 
Law,  while  from  his  mouth  proceeds  the  sharp,  two-edged  sword. 
In  front  of  him  are  the  seven  symboHcal  candlesticks,  each  of 
exquisite  and  individual  beauty  of  design  and  workmanship.  In  the 
presence  of  this  majesty,  the  man  kneeling  there,  though  possessed 
of  the  dignity  and  worth  inseparable  from  one  to  whom  such  an 
audience  would  be  granted,  appears  very  youthful  and  immature 
and  very  humble.  Yet  about  the  Most  High  God  there  is  no  sugges- 
tion of  a  brutal,  destroying  force  which  takes  advantage  of  supreme 
power  to  gratify  personal  caprice  or  to  wreak  vengeance;  he  is  the 
Judge,  stern,  just  and  righteous.  From  his  throne  proceeds  judg- 
ment and  we  follow  its  execution  through  picture  after  picture. 
The  trumpets  are  blown,  the  riders  come,  with  bows  and  arrows, 
swords  and  balances,  riding  onward  over  men  and  women,  monks 

*  A  fine  copy  is  in  the  Uffizi  Gallery,  Florence. 


254  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

and  friars,  emperors  and  popes.  Descending  to  earth  from  a  sky 
of  clouds  filled  with  weird  riders  on  vengeance-spewing  beasts,  the 
great,  winged  angels  swinging  their  swords  "  slay  and  slay  and  spare 
not."  Such  movement,  such  force  irresistible  possess  nature's 
whirlwinds,  her  terrible  hurricane  blasts!  And  withal,  each  scene 
is  given  clearly,  is  conveyed  without  confusion  to  the  mind  of  the 
spectator  and  is  done  with  as  minute  care  for  the  details  of  each 
individual  figure  as  if  it  were  the  real  and  only  subject  of  the  picture. 

In  the  year  following,  1494,  the  artist  painted  the  three  portraits 
of  members  of  the  Tucher  family,  Hans  and  his  wife  Felicitas,  in 
Weimar  Museum,  and  his  sister-in-law,  Elsbeth,  in  Cassel  Gallery. 
The  portrait  of  Oswald  Krell,  in  Munich  Pinakothek,  which  was 
painted  in  the  same  year,  possesses,  however,  much  more  distinction 
than  these.  Though  the  pose  is  rather  rigid  and  the  outlines  of 
face  and  features  are  sharp,  the  fine  bearing,  natural  expression  and 
the  colouring,  with  the  rich  black  velvet  and  silk  cloak  with  fur 
trimming  against  the  red  of  the  curtain  and  the  blue  and  green  of 
the  lovely,  sunny  landscape  with  trees  and  a  brook,  make  the  picture 
one  of  much  beauty. 

To  the  next  year,  1500,  belongs  the  artist's  wonderful  portrait 
of  himself,  in  Munich  Pinakothek.  He  is  given  in  half-length,  wear- 
ing a  black,  fur- trimmed  mantle  which  he  holds  together  lightly  with  a 
right  hand  so  finely  modelled  that  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that 
Camerarius,  the  Rector  of  Melanchthon's  school  in  Nuremberg, 
should  have  exclaimed,"  One  could  not  imagine  anything  more  beauti- 
ful than  Diirer's  hands!"  There  is  little  local  colour  in  the  picture, 
which  is  held  in  a  warm,  brown  tone.  The  head  is  well  poised,  the 
brown  hair  falls  in  fine  ringlets  to  his  shoulders,  the  large,  calm,  all- 
seeing  eyes  look  straight  out  at  the  spectator,  the  lips  are  beautifully 
curved  and  sensitive.  In  type  and  in  expression,  the  face  and  head 
are  so  like  his  own  Christ  ideal  as  to  be  almost  startling.  The  whole 
nature  of  the  man  is  revealed  in  this  portrait;  the  insight,  the  vision, 
the  purity,  the  dignity,  the  high  nobility,  and  the  tenderness  and 
sweetness  which  made  him  "the  only  man  with  whom  the  irascible 
Willibald  Pirkheimer  never  could  get  angry." 

In  the  same  year  as  this  portrait  of  himself,  1500,  DUrer  painted 
the  altar-piece,  now  in  Munich  Pinakothek,  which  represents  the 


ALBRECHT  DURER  255 

Mourning  over  the  Dead  Christ.  It  shows  the  body  of  Christ,  which 
has  just  been  taken  down  from  the  cross,  supported  by  Nicodemus. 
One  of  the  women  holds  Christ's  hand  in  both  hers,  touching  the 
wound  in  tender  pity,  her  hps  parted  in  loving  speech;  the  Virgin, 
with  folded  hands,  looks  down  at  the  form  of  her  Son;  at  the  head  of 
Christ  kneels  an  older  woman,  who,  with  both  hands  raised  high  in 
air,  voices  loud  her  grief.  At  the  apex  of  this  pyramidal  arrange- 
ment of  the  people  stands  John  with  clasped  hands  and  far-away 
look;  Mary  Magdalen,  at  his  right,  in  nun-like  garments,  leans 
forward  to  look  at  the  Christ  and  seems  to  be  about  to  open  the  large 
box  of  ointment  she  is  carrying;  Joseph  of  Arimathea  stands  at  the 
feet  of  Christ  holding  the  end  of  the  winding  sheet  and  looking 
sorrowfully  at  his  dead  Lord. 

In  this  picture,  DUrer  is  not  so  free  as  in  the  woodcuts  or  the 
portraits,  and  the  influence  of  Wolgemut  is  strongly  marked. 
The  figure  of  the  Virgin  betrays  something  of  the  affectation 
which  so  often  strikes  a  false  note  in  Wolgemut' s  tragic  scenes, 
the  characterisation  of  Nicodemus  is  very  superficial,  the  attitude 
of  the  Magdalen  almost  theatrical.  The  colours  are  strong  and 
are  disturbing  owing  to  lack  of  harmonious  blending. 

The  Pieta  in  the  Germanic  Museum,  dating  from  the  same 
period,  resembles  this  one  closely  though  there  are  fewer  people  in 
the  composition.  Both  of  these  pictures  were  doubtless,  in  part, 
the  work  of  helpers  or  students. 

More  wholly  in  Diirer's  own  manner  is  the  Paumgartner  Altar, 
also  in  Munich  Pinakothek,  which  was  painted  in  1503.  The  cen- 
tral picture  shows  the  Holy  Family  under  the  temporary  shelter 
of  a  wooden  roof  set  up  against  the  wall  of  a  castle  ruin.  The  Virgin 
and  Joseph  kneel  in  adoration  of  the  Child,  tiny  angels  hasten  to  the 
service  of  this  new-born  King;  ox  and  ass  look  out  through  the  arches 
to  the  right,  and  through  a  doorway  two  shepherds  are  approaching. 
Behind  them,  a  view  is  given  of  a  goodly  stretch  of  landscape.  On 
the  wings,  the  donors  of  the  altar,  Stephen,  and  Lucas  Paumgartner, 
are  represented  as  St.  George  and  St.  Eustache. 

In  the  Virgin  of  the  central  picture  the  artist  presents  for  the 
first  time  the  type  which  is  afterwards  his  characteristic  Madonna 
type.     The  body  is  strong,  rounded,  and   not  excessively   slender, 


^5Q  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

the  head  is  beautifully  posed,  the  face  a  softly  curving  oval,  the  eyes 
large,  the  nose  straight  and  rather  short,  the  chin  round,  the  hair 
golden,  with  wavy  strands  escaping  from  the  veil  to  fall  about  her 
face;  the  throat  is  full;  the  hands  long  but  plump.  The  portraits 
of  the  donors  on  the  wings,  though  somewhat  sharp  and  hard  in 
drawing,  are  marked  by  fine,  serious  dignity. 

The  "Madonna  nursing  the  Child,"  in  Vienna  Gallery,  which  was 
done  in  this  same  year,  in  the  unusual  softness  of  the  treatment  of 
the  flesh  and  the  extreme  sweetness  of  expression,  speaks  of  the 
beginning  of  the  artist's  acquaintance  with  the  work  of  Jacopo 
de*  Barbari,  the  Venetian  painter  who,  in  1500,  set  up  his  studio 
in   Nuremberg. 

In  the  next  year,  1504,  on  a  commission  from  Elector  Frederick 
the  Wise,  Diirer  painted  the  "Adoration  of  the  Kings,"  which  is  in  the 
Tribune  of  the  UflSzi  Gallery.  It  presents  the  Virgin  holding  the 
Child,  seated  beside  the  scant  ruins  of  a  palace.  Before  them  kneels 
the  oldest  of  the  three  kings,  his  gaze  bent  upon  the  lovely  little 
Babe,  who,  with  childish  glee,  plays  with  his  two  hands  in  the  box 
of  gold  pieces  presented  to  him.  Close  at  hand  stand  the  other  two 
kings;  one  of  them  with  long,  curling  hair,  clad  in  beautiful  garments 
and  holding  a  tall  gold  chalice,  bears  a  marked  resemblance  to  Diirer 
himself.  In  the  court  without  are  their  servants  and  attendants,  one 
of  whom  has  difficulty  in  controlling  his  rearing  horse.  Outside 
the  outer  wall  of  the  court  is  a  landscape  with  a  fortified  town  built 
on  a  steep  hill.  The  Virgin  in  the  "Adoration"  is  very  similar  in  type 
to  the  Madonna  in  the  Paumgartner  Altar.  She  wears  the  dress  of 
the  period  and  is  very  natural  in  bearing.  The  Child  is  beautiful 
in  form,  soft  in  modelling  and  of  irresistible,  lifelike  charm. 

From  this  same  year,  1504,  dates  a  series  of  twelve  scenes  from 
the  Passion,  in  the  Albertina,  Vienna,  drawn  on  paper  tinted  green, 
and  known,  therefore,  as  the  "Green  Passion."  The  scenes  are  much 
more  restrained  than  those  in  the  Apocalypse  or  in  the  woodcut 
Passion  which  DUrer  had  engraved  five  years  earlier;  the  composi- 
tion is  simpler,  the  figures  are  greatly  reduced  in  number.  So,  for 
example,  in  the  Piet^  there  are  but  two  mourning  women,  and  there 
are  no  such  outward  manifestations  of  uncontrolled  grief  as  that  of 
the  woman  who  is  holding  up  both  hands  and  crying  aloud,  in  the 


Photograph  by  Franz  Hanfstaengl 


ALBRECHT  DURER 

The  Nativity 
Alte  Pinakothek,  Munich 


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ALBRECHT  DURER  257 

Piet^  in  Munich.  The  whole  series  unfolds  like  a  great  drama, 
marked  by  clearness,  naturalness  and  restraint.  In  this  and  the 
following  year,  Durer  was  also  engaged  on  a  series  of  woodcuts 
representing  scenes  from  the  Life  of  the  Virgin.  The  composition 
in  each  of  these  pictures  is  so  clear  that  the  story  they  tell  can- 
not fail  to  be  understood.  The  people  are  all  of  the  artist's  ac- 
quaintance, and  are  presented  with  astonishing  lifelikeness  in  the 
costumes  he  saw  them  wearing  ordinarily.  Yet  though  the  hap- 
penings are  made  so  natural  by  being  presented  as  experiences 
of  everyday  life,  they  are  by  no  means  permitted  to  be  prosaic. 
Thus,  in  the  "Flight  into  Egypt,"  though  Joseph  in  his  carpenter's 
apron  is  busily  plying  his  trade,  and  Mary,  in  the  plain  garb  of  a 
German  Hausfrau,  is  spinning  and  keeping  one  foot  on  the  rocker 
of  the  wooden  cradle  in  which  lies  the  Child  in  swaddling 
clothes,  his  busy  helpers  are  sturdy,  little,  winged  cherubs  and 
her  companions  are  tall  angels.  So  for  all  the  scenes  there  is 
provided  by  subtle,  suggestive  touches,  an  atmosphere  of  delicate 
fancifulness  or  of  poesy. 

In  the  latter  half  of  the  year  1505,  Diirer  set  out  for  Venice, 
doubtless  with  the  expectation  of  receiving  the  commission  to  paint 
the  altar-piece  which  the  Germans  were  going  to  erect  in  their  church 
in  that  city.  On  the  sixt:h  of  January,  1506,  he  wrote  to  Pirkheimer 
that  he  had  obtained  the  commission,  and  on  the  twenty-third  of  Sep- 
tember, that  he  had  finished  the  work  and  that  there  was  "  no  better 
Madonna  picture  in  the  land,  for  all  the  painters  praise  it.  They  say 
that  they  have  never  seen  a  nobler,  more  beautiful  picture,  and 
so  forth." 

The  subject  of  the  picture,  which  is  now  in  the  Rudolphinum, 
Prague,  is  the  Glorification  of  the  Virgin  in  the  Festival  of  Rose 
Garlands.  In  a  charming  landscape,  the  Madonna  sits  enthroned; 
saints  surround  her,  angels  make  music  at  her  feet.  Graciously  she 
places  a  crown  of  roses  on  the  head  of  the  kneeling  Emperor 
Maximilian,  while  the  Christ  Child  crowns  Pope  Julius  II.  Among 
the  guests  at  this  festival  are  Doge  Domenico  Grimani,  whom  St. 
Dominic  crowns,  the  Patriarch  of  Venice,  and  many  other  well-known 
men  of  the  age,  and,  standing  a  little  to  the  right,  Diirer  himself. 


258  ^  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

holding  a  tablet  inscribed  with  his  signature  and  the  date  of 
the  Work. 

The  composition  is  rhythmical  in  the  arrangement  of  the  lines 
V  of  figures;  the  forms  are  of  great  freedom  and  nobility,  the  whole 
most  decorative,  as  well  as  full  of  charm.  Wholly  Venetian  is 
the  angel  playing  the  flute  at  the  Madonna's  feet.  Contempo- 
rary Italians  wrote  of  the  wonderful  beauty  of  the  colouring, 
which  has  unfortunately  been  lost  by  retouching. 

In  Venice  the  artist  also  painted,  in  five  days,  "Christ  among  the 
,  Doctors  in  the  Temple,"  now  in  the  Barberini  Palace,  Rome.  It 
shows  a  very  beautiful  young  boy  surrounded  by  cavilling  Pharisees. 
Most  interesting  is  the  study  of  hands  in  the  picture — the  fine, 
delicately  formed  hands  of  the  Child  which  are  moving  in  a  gesture, 
and  the  veined  and  knotted  hands  of  the  old  men  about  him,  one  of 
whom  is  leaning  on  a  book  and  another  turning  the  pages  of  an  open 
volume  in  search  of  a  passage  to  prove  his  point. 

To  1506  and  the  Venetian  period  belongs,  also,  the  "Christ  on  the 
Cross,"  in  Dresden  Gallery,  which,  though  of  unusually  small  dimen- 
sions, is  a  truly  great  and  monumental  work.  The  conception  is 
that  of  Christ  "lifted  up"  for  the  healing  of  the  nations.  Hence, 
it  is  not  a  representation  of  the  scene  on  Calvary;  the  crosses  of  the 
thieves,  the  soldiers,  the  mournir^g  women  have  no  place  in  it. 
Alone  on  the  hill  of  Golgotha  hangs  the  thorn-crowned  Christ.  Face 
and  form  are  of  great  beauty,  delicacy  and  refinement.  The  eyelids 
are  closing  over  the  eyes  that  look  up  to  heaven,  the  lips  are  parted 
in  a  last  sigh.  Yet  the  beauty  of  neither  face  nor  form  is  touched 
by  suffering;  rather  is  the  impression  conveyed  by  the  light  body 
hanging  there  without  strain,  the  ends  of  the  loin-cloth  fluttering  in 
the  breeze,  one  of  exaltation  in  the  fulfilment  of  high  purpose — 
"I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  shall  draw  all  men  unto  me!" — an  impression 
which  is  heightened  by  the  exquisite,  glowing  colouring  and  the 
bright  loveliness  of  the  landscape  that  stretches  behind  the  little 
group  of  birch  trees. 

So  charmed  was  the  Venetian  Senate  with  the  artist's  work, 
that  they  offered  him  a  pension  of  two  hundred  ducats  if  he  would 
stay  in  Venice.  The  Venetian  painters,  however,  did  not  look  with 
great  favour  on  his  presence  there,  except  Giovanni  Bellini,  of  whom 


>**.": 


Photograph  by  Franz  Hanfstaengl 


ALBRECHT  DURER 

Christ  on  the  Cross 
gallery,  dresden 


Photograph  by  Franz  Hanfstaengl 


ALBRECHT  DURER 

Adam 

prado,  madrid 


ALBRECHT  DURER  259 

Diirer  had  written  to  Pirkheimer,  "He  is  very  old,  but  still  the 
greatest  artist  of  them  all,"  and  again,  later,  that  Bellini  had  praised 
him  highly  before  many  nobles  and  had  asked  him  to  paint  for  him 
a  picture  for  which  he  would  pay  well.  The  story  is  told  that  the 
great  Italian  asked  Diirer  one  day  for  one  of  the  brushes  with  which 
he  painted  hair.  Diirer  immediately  produced  a  handful  of  ordinary 
brushes  and  begged  Bellini  to  take  the  best  or  all  if  he  would.  "But," 
objected  the  Venetian,  "I  mean  the  ones  with  which  you  draw  sev- 
eral hairs  at  one  stroke.  They  must  be  spread  out  more  and  the 
bristles  more  divided,  otherwise,  in  a  long  sweep,  such  regularity  of 
curve  and  distance  could  not  be  preserved."  "I  use  none  other 
than  these,"  replied  Diirer,  and  taking  up  one  of  the  brushes  he  drew 
some  very  long,  wavy  tresses  such  as  women  wear,  in  the  most  regu- 
lar order  and  symmetry.  Bellini  looked  on  wondering,  and  after- 
ward affirmed  that  no  living  being  could  have  convinced  him  by 
report,  of  the  truth  of  that  which  he  had  seen  with  his  own  eyes. 

With  mingled  reluctance  and  proud  patriotism  Diirer  decided 
to  return  to  Nuremberg.  To  Pirkheimer  he  wrote:  "How  I  shall 
freeze  at  home,  longing  for  this  sunshine!  Here  I  am  a  gentleman; 
at  home,  a  parasite."  And  at  a  somewhat  later  date,  in  a  letter 
to  the  Council  of  Nuremberg  he  reminds  them:  "Venice  offered  me 
an  office  and  two  hundred  ducats  a  year;  Antwerp  three  hundred 
Philipsgulden,  freedom  from  taxation  and  a  well-built  house;  but  I 
declined  all  this  because  of  the  particular  love  and  affection  I  bear 
your  honourable  Wisdoms  and  my  fatherland,  this  honourable  town, 
preferring  to  live  under  your  Wisdoms  in  a  moderate  way  rather 
than  to  be  rich  and  held  in  honour  in  other  places." 

The  year  1507  found  him,  therefore,  in  his  own  workshop,  finish- 
ing the  "Adam"  and  "Eve"  now  in  the  Prado,  for  which  studies  had 
been  made  in  Venice.  The  forms  are  finely  proportioned,  the  contours 
soft,  the  poses  unstudied  and  expressive.  Adam  is  beautiful  as  a 
young  Greek  god;  with  strong  yet  fine  features,  softly -curling  hair, 
large,  eager  eyes,  parted  lips  and  that  air  of  looking  out  upon 
the  world  for  the  first  time  he  is  less  an  individual  than  a 
symbol;  he  is  youth  incarnate. 

In  1508  Durer  was  requested  by  his  old  patron,  the  Elector 
Frederick  the  Wise,  to  paint  a  picture  with  a  subject  of  which  he  had 


260  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

just  made  a  woodcut — the  "  Martyrdom  of  the  Theban  Ten  Thousand,'* 
which  is  in  Vienna  Gallery.  The  subject  was,  from  its  very  nature, 
not  one  which  would  inspire  a  beautiful  picture;  the  composition 
must  of  necessity  be  crowded,  the  various  scenes  must  appear  as  so 
many  episodes,  the  sentiment  must  be  repellent  because  of  the  brutal- 
ity represented.  But  the  work  is  dorie  with  extreme  conscientious- 
ness, the  characterisation  of  each  individual  in  that  great  throng 
of  people  is  truly  remarkable.  In  the  middle  of  the  picture  Diirer 
introduces  himself  and  Pirkheimer  as  witnesses  of  the  horrors. 

A  year  earlier,  1507,  Diirer  had  received  a  commission  from 
a  rich  Frankfort  merchant,  Jacob  Heller,  to  paint  an  altar  representing 
the  Assumption  of  the  Virgin.  The  picture  was  not  finished  until 
1509  and  several  letters  concerning  it  passed  between  the  artist  and 
his  patron,  who  was  growing  impatient  at  the  delay.  Diirer  dwelt 
upon  the  painstaking  manner  in  which  the  picture  was  painted,  and 
repeated  again  and  again  the  assurance  that  it  was  being  done,  not 
only  with  the  best  materials,  the  most  expensive  gold  and  ultramarine, 
but  with  the  minutest  care  and  "not  as  men  are  wont  to  paint;  so 
that  if  you  will  but  keep  it  clean  and  not  let  them  sprinkle  holy 
water  on  it,  it  will  last  five  hundred  years."  The  scene  repre- 
sented was  that  of  the  Virgin  borne  aloft  by  angels  and  crowned  by 
God  the  Father  and  Christ.  On  the  earth  below  were  the  twelve 
wondering  disciples,  gazing  up  into  heaven  adoringly,  prayerfully. 
In  the  middle  of  the  wide  landscape  stood  the  artist,  his  hand  rest- 
ing upon  a  tablet  which  bore  his  signature.  Unfortunately  the  origi- 
nal of  the  picture,  which  had,  in  the  course  of  time,  come  into  the 
possession  of  Duke  Maximilian  of  Bavaria,  was  burned  with  the  castle 
in  Munich  in  1674  and  we  can  now  know  it  only  from  an  old  copy "  in 
the  Historical  Museum,  Frankfort,  and  from  Diirer's  studies  for 
various  details,  among  which  the  best  known  is  the  drawing  in 
Berlin  Print  Room  for  the  clasped  *' Praying  Hands"  of  a  disciple. 

Diirer  had  written  to  Jacob  Heller  when  he  was  weary  from 
painstaking  work  on  this  altar  that  he  would  henceforth  stick  to 
engraving  and  would  "never  again  attempt  a  picture  with  so  much 
labour,"  yet  a  year  and  a  half  later  he  finished  an  even  larger  altar- 
piece,  the  famous  "Trinity  adored  by  All  Saints,"  now  in  Vienna 
Gallery.     The   All    Saints    altar    presents,    in  the    upper  air,   the 


"'  C-c. 


J' ruin  a  I!ei:/rodiu:tion  in  Colour  by  J.  L.  Fvhrag.  Nuremhei-g 

ALBRFXHT  DURER 
VnuiiN  AND  Child  in  a  Lanhscape 

AIBERTINA,  VIENNA 


ALBRECHT  DURER  261 

Trinity — God  the  Father,  Christ  on  the  cross,  and  the  Dove — 
surrounded  by  angels.  At  a  greater  distance  are,  to  right  and  left, 
in  the  curving  line  of  two  arcs  of  a  circle,  the  heroes  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments,  saints  and  martyrs,  representing  the  Church 
Triumphant;  below  them  are  the  Emperor  and  Pope  with  the 
hosts  of  the  faithful,  representing  the  Church  Militant. 

The  figures  are  grouped  clearly  and  without  confusion.  People 
are  represented  of  every  age,  type  and  disposition,  and  each  indi- 
vidual is  so  natural,  so  carefully  characterised  that  we  feel  that 
these  are,  in  reality,  portraits.  And  these  hosts  all  unite,  with 
great  sweep  of  moving  line,  in  honouring,  with  heartfelt  adoration 
and  jubilation,  the  Three  in  One,  "Lord  of  all  being  throned  afar." 
Yet  though  the  spectator  may  be  caught  in  this  upward  surge  of 
nations  and  ages,  may  feel  himself  swept  on  with  them  by  the 
contagion  of  their  impulse  of  passionate  devotion,  it  is  impossible 
to  realise  the  wondrous  beauty  of  the  picture  until  one  has  seen 
the  colouring.  Fresh  and  luminous,  surely,  as  when  they  were 
painted,  the  colours  glow  like  jewels.  The  lighting  is  that  of 
early  evening,  which  sheds  a  soft  sunset  glow  over  the  water  of 
the  bay,  on  the  shore  of  which  is  a  peaceful  town  in  a  hilly  land- 
scape. In  the  right-hand  corner  stands  the  small,  solitary  figure 
of  the  artist  who  saw  this  vision,  his  hand  resting  on  the  tablet 
bearing  his  signature.  Dignified,  serious,  quiet,  he  looks  out  at 
us  with  such  an  expression  of  reserve  force  as  would  seem  to  say 
what  he  had  previously  written— that  "the  artist's  inner  self  is 
full  of  pictures";  that  he  could  go  on  eternally  creating  just  such 
marvellous  works. 

From  about  1510  or  1511  dates  the  rather  more  superficially 
painted  "Madonna  with  the  Iris,"  in  the  Rudolphinum  in  Prague, 
and  from  1512,  the  "Madonna  with  the  Pear,"  in  Vienna,  a  picture 
of  exceeding  beauty  and  charm.  The  Virgin,  in  a  blue  robe,  with 
a  transparent  veil  over  her  blond  hair,  from  which  curling  strands 
escape  to  fall  about  the  young  and  lovely  face,  holds  in  her  arms 
the  sturdy  boy  who  grasps  a  half  pear  tightly. 

In  these  years  from  1510  to  1512  the  artist  also  painted  for  the 
Imperial  Treasury  in  Nuremberg,  in  which  were  deposited  the 
imperial  crown  jewels  and  coronation  regalia,  the  pictures  of  the 


262  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

Emperors  Charlemagne  and  Sigismund  in  heroic  size,  which  are 
now  in  the  Germanic  Museum,  and  which,  unfortunately,  have 
been  seriously  injured  by  retouching.  They  are,  however,  ex- 
ceedingly decorative  still,  and  that  of  Sigismund,  particularly, 
gives  an  impression  of  great  inner  intensity  and  nervous  force. 

After  1512  Durer's  activity  as  a  painter  ceased  for  some  time 
and  he  devoted  himself  to  making  engravings  and  woodcuts.  Draw- 
ings remain  from  this  period,  many  of  which  were  evidently  designs 
for  pictures  that  were  never  painted.  Some  of  these  drawings, 
on  tinted  paper  or  washed  in  with  colour,  are  so  careful  in  workmanship 
and  so  beautiful  that  they  should  be  considered  finished  pictures. 
So,  for  example,  the  Madonna  in  Chantilly  and  a  quite  similar 
Madonna  in  Basel,  done  in  1509,  in  which  the  Virgin  and  Child 
are  presented  in  a  beautiful  Renaissance  hall,  with  birds  and 
fruits  and  other  rich  decorative  motifs.  The  Madonna  is  youth- 
ful and  attractive  in  type,  the  Child  very  lovely.  At  their  feet 
are  tiny  angels  who  make  music,  and  little  rabbits  and  mice 
who  hurry  to  join  this  happy  company.  To  the  left,  in  a 
landscape,  is  a  city  built  on  a  hill,  which  looks  very  much  like 
Nuremberg. 

In  1511  Durer  published  a  second  edition  of  his  Apocalypse, 
enlarged  his  series  of  woodcuts  representing  the  Life  of  the  Virgin 
and  engraved  on  wood  a  series  of  twelve  large-sized  pages  repre- 
senting scenes  from  the  Passion  and  a  cycle  of  thirty-seven  small 
scenes  with  the  same  subject.  It  is  a  significant  commentary  on 
his  inexhaustible  wealth  of  ideas  that  he  could  make  so  many 
series  of  Passion  pictures  presenting  the  same  scenes,  and  offer  each 
time  a  new  conception,  a  different  interpretation.  Many  single 
engravings  on  wood  and  on  copper  also  date  from  this  year,  as,  for 
example,  the  "Trinity,'*  a  large  woodcut  which,  instead  of  presenting 
the  Trinity  in  the  traditional  manner,  conceives  of  it  as  illustrating 
the  text  "God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  His  only-begotten 
Son"  and  shows  God  the  Father  holding  in  his  arms  the  body  of  the 
dead  Christ,  over  which  the  Dove  is  hovering,  while  mourning  angels 
bear  the  instruments  of  his  Passion. 

In  1512  he  finished  the  greater  number  of  the  seventeen  en- 
gravings on  copper  of  scenes  from  the  Passion — a  volume  of  noble 


ALBRECHT  DURER 
Knight,  Death  and  Devil  (Engraving) 


ALBRECHT  DtJRER  263 

poetry,  setting  forth  with  great  dignity  and  dramatic  power  the 
chief  moments  of  Christ's  suffering  for  mankind's  redemption. 

In  1513  and  1514  he  made  the  three  copper-plate  engravings* 
which  stand  as  the  high- water  mark  of  German  engraving;  "Knight, 
Death  and  Devil,"  "Melancholy,"  and  "St.  Jerome  in  his  Study." 
"Knight,  Death  and  Devil"  pictures  a  solitary  horseman,  clad  in 
armour,  his  spear  over  his  shoulder,  riding  along  a  narrow  mountain- 
ous road.  Out  of  the  darkening  shadows  of  evening  come  the  weird 
and  fearsome  forms  of  the  spectre  Death,  with  serpents  for  his 
crown  and  necklace,  who  will  ride  beside  him,  and  the  horned  Devil, 
who,  with  gleaming  eyes,  reaches  out  a  greedy  hand  to  clutch  him. 
The  Knight's  horse  is  uneasy,  scenting  something  uncanny;  but  the 
Knight  himself  is  unalarmed  and  unconcerned,  apparently  even 
unaware  of  the  dangers  that  menace  him.  Erect  and  confident  he 
rides  on,  lost  in  his  own  high  thoughts  and  noble  purposes: 

"The  menace  of  the  years 
Finds,  and  shall  find  me,  unafraid. 
It  matters  not  how  strait  the  gate. 
How  charged  with  punishments  the  scroll, 
I  am  the  master  of  my  fate, 
I  am  the  Captain  of  my  soul." 

The  second  engraving,  the  so-called  "Melancholy,"  shows  a 
female  figure  crowned  with  the  laurel  wreath  of  fame  and 
surrounded  by  all  the  tools  of  human  knowledge;  it  is  the  very 
embodiment  of  the  power  of  intellect — of  genius.  Yet  all  about 
are  the  depressing  symbols  of  the  limitations  of  the  human  mind; 
the  ladder  with  its  restricted  reach,  the  hour-glass  and  bell  with 
their  message  of  the  shortness  of  the  span  of  human  fife.  Over 
the  immeasurable  ocean  in  the  background  a  comet  lights  the  end- 
less space  of  heaven  and  calls  to  birth  a  rainbow  which  voices 
the  final  conclusion  of  Genius,  which  sitting  there  with  drooping 
wings,  holding  the  book  and  compass  through  which  it  would 
learn  to  measure  and  to  know  the  Infinite,  faces  the  realisation 
of  finite  nothingness  in  the  presence  of  the  All. 

The  third  of  these  great  engravings  represents  St.  Jerome  as 

*  There  were  originally,  in  all  probability,  four  pictures,  symbolic  of  the  four  temperaments,  as 
Tausing  suggests,  but  the  fourth  has  been  lost  or  has  not  yet  been  identified. 


264 


GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 


M 


DtfRER: 

Marginal  Drawing 
From  Emperor 
Maximilian's  Prayerbook 


an  old  man,  working  in  the  cheerful  brightness 
of  his  roomy  study,  bending  his  energies  to  his 
task,  seeking  to  know  that  he  may  lead  others 
into  the  paths  of  wisdom,  enlightenment  and 
truth. 

In  1514  Durer  experienced  a  great  sorrow 
in  the  loss  of  his  mother,  who  died  May 
17th,  after  a  long  and  painful  illness.  A  few 
weeks  before  her  death  he  drew  the  large 
charcoal  portrait  of  her  which  is  in  Berlin 
Print  Room.  It  shows  an  aged  woman,  with 
the  thin,  tired  and  furrowed  face  of  one  who 
has  known  much  care,  but  with  an  expression 
of  great  kindliness.  Her  son  has  left  the 
written  memorial  of  her:  "It  was  her  constant 
custom  to  go  to  church.  She  never  failed  to 
reprove  me  when  I  did  wrong.  She  kept  us, 
my  brothers  and  myself,  with  great  care  from  all 
sin  and  on  my  coming  in  or  my  going  out,  it 
was  her  habit  to  say  *  Christ  bless  thee.'  I 
cannot  praise  enough  her  good  works,  the  kind- 
ness and  charity  she  showed  to  all,  nor  can  I 
speak  enough  of  the  good  fame  that  was  hers." 

A  new  field  of  work  had  now  opened  for 
the  artist.  In  1512  he  received  a  commission 
from  the  Emperor  to  make  for  him  what  was  to 
prove  the  largest  woodcut  known,  the  "Tri- 
umph of  Maximilian."  The  first  part,  the  "Tri- 
umphal Arch,"  an  enormous  picture  engraved 
on  ninety-two  blocks  and  representing  scenes 
from  the  life  of  the  Emperor,  was  done  in  the 
years  between  1512  and  1515;  work  on  the  sec- 
ond part,  the  "Triumphal  Car,"  was  interrupted 
by  the  death  of  the  Emperor.  The  exquisite 
drawings  for  it  are  in  the  Albertina,  Vienna.  Of 
more  charm  than  the  gigantic  "Triumphal  Arch" 
are  the  forty-five  marginal  drawings  the  artist 


ALBRECHT  DIJRER  W5 

made  for  the  Emperor's  Prayerbook,  which  show  remarkable  va- 
riety in  subjects,  design  and  ornamental  features.  Realistic,  dra- 
matic, phantastic  or  gracefully  decorative,  they  are  all  of  fascinat- 
ing beauty  and  inexhaustible  charm. 

In  1516  Diirer  resumed  his  activity  as  a  painter,  with  the  por- 
trait of  his  old  master,  Michael  Wolgemut,  which  is  in  Munich 
Pinakothek,  the  pictures  in  tempera  of  the  heads  of  the  Apostles 
James  and  Philip  with  the  silvery  beards,  in  the  Uffizi,  and  the 
dreamy  "Madonna  and  Child'*  in  Augsburg  Gallery.  From  1518  dates 
the  Madonna  picture  in  Berlin  Gallery  which  is  very  similar  to  the 
Augsburg  picture,  but  which  has  lost  much  of  its  beauty  through 
retouching.  The  'Xucretia  stabbing  herself,"  in  Munich  Pinako- 
thek is  merely  a  study  of  the  human  form,  with  none  of  the 
dramatic  quality  it  would  possess  had  the  artist  desired  to 
present  it  as  the  moment  of  climax  in  a  tragedy. 

To  1519  belongs  the  portrait  of  the  Emperor  Maximilian,  in 
Vienna  Gallery,  which  was  done  after  the  Emperor's  death,  from  a 
drawing  the  artist  had  made  in  Augsburg  the  previous  year, 
which  bears  the  inscription:  "This  is  Emperor  Maximilian  whose 
portrait,  I,  Albrecht  Diirer,  made  in  Augsburg  in  the  Pfalz,  in  a 
little  room,  in  the  year  1518,  on  Monday  after  St.  John  the 
Baptist."  The  Emperor  wears  a  purple  mantle  with  sable  trim- 
ming and  a  black  hat  under  which  the  hair  falls  heavy  and 
straight  to  the  nape  of  his  neck.  On  a  broad  chain  about  his 
neck  hangs  the  Golden  Fleece.  Dignified,  reserved,  compre- 
hending, this  portrait  summons  before  us  the  "Last  of  the 
Knights,"  at  once  emperor,  soldier,  courtier,  scholar  and  patron 
of  the  arts. 

In  the  summer  following  the  death  of  the  Emperor,  on  July  12th, 
1520,  Diirer,  with  his  wife  and  a  maid,  started  on  a  journey  to  the 
Netherlands,  of  which  he  has  left  us  a  minute  account  in  his  diary. 
He  proceeded  along  the  Rhine  to  Cologne  and  thence  to  Antwerp; 
visited  Aix-la-Chapelle,  Ghent  and  Bruges;  witnessed  the  coronation 
of  Charles  V  at  Antwerp  and  the  great  festival  held  in  his  honour  in 
Cologne;  was  presented  to  Margaret,  Regent  of  the  Netherlands; 
was  entertained  by  artists,  municipalities  and  kings,  and  with  youth- 
ful curiosity  and  enthusiasm  travelled  away  up  to  Zealand  to  see  a 


266  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

whale  that  had  been  stranded  on  the  shore.  And  everywhere  he 
went  he  made  sketches  of  people  and  cities,  buildings  and  animals. 
Portraits  he  painted,  too;  among  them  the  lifelike  and  distinguished 
portrait  of  Barent  van  Orley,  court  painter  to  Duchess  Margaret, 
which  is  in  Dresden  Gallery;  of  ''A  Man,"  in  a  fur  mantle  and 
wearing  a  broad-brimmed  hat,  in  the  Prado,  Madrid,  and  of  ^^An  Old 
Man,"  in  the  Louvre.  Of  equal  interest  with  these  portraits  in 
oils  are  his  portrait  sketches  in  charcoal,  including  those  of  Eras- 
mus, looking  down  and  smiling  slightly,  of  Paul  Topler,  Martin 
Pfinzing  and  many  other  famous  people  of  that  day. 

He  has  much  to  say,  in  his  diary,  of  the  warmth  of  the  welcome 
he  received  from  the  Flemish  artists,  Joachim  Patinir,  the  land- 
scape painter,  Barent  van  Orley,  Lucas  van  Ley  den,  the  engraver, 
and  Gerhard  Horebout  the  illuminator;  of  the  honour  shown  him  by 
the  high  dignitaries  of  the  Netherlands  and  by  the  visiting  monarch. 
King  Christian  II  of  Denmark,  who  entertained  him  at  dinner  and 
whose  portrait  he  drew  in  charcoal  and  also  painted  in  oils  "with 
borrowed  colours. "  Indeed,  everywhere  he  went,  everyone  desired 
to  do  homage  to  the  great  master. 

But  in  the  midst  of  travels,  festivities  and  work,  Diirer  did  not 
lose  sight  of  the  happenings  in  his  own  country,  which  was  thor- 
oughly aroused  and  split  into  factions  by  the  Lutheran  movement. 
Shortly  before  leaving  for  the  Netherlands,  in  1520,  when  Luther, 
having  made  his  appeal  to  the  German  nation  and  burned  the  Papal 
Bull,  was  in  great  danger,  Durer  had  written  to  Spalatin,  chaplain 
and  private  secretary  to  Elector  Frederick  the  Wise  of  Saxony, 
acknowledging  the  receipt  of  one  of  Luther's  works  which  the  Elector 
had  sent  him  as  a  gift,  and  praying  him  to  "beseech  his  Electoral 
Grace  to  take  the  estimable  Dr.  Martin  Luther  under  his  protection 
for  the  sake  of  Christian  truth,  for  that  is  of  more  importance  to 
us  than  all  the  power  and  riches  of  the  world;  because  all  things  pass 
away  with  time;  truth  alone  endures  forever,"  and  adding  that 
if  ever  he  should  meet  Luther  he  would  "draw  a  careful  portrait  of 
him  from  life  and  engrave  it  on  copper  for  a  lasting  remembrance. " 
Now,  in  1521,  he  received  in  Antwerp  the  news  that,  in  spite  of 
the  Emperor's  safe  conduct,  Luther  had  been  taken  prisoner  near 
Eisenach.     Everyone  believed  this  would  prove  a  repetition  of  the 


ALBRECHT  DURER  267 

Huss  tragedy;  that  it  meant  Luther's  death.  In  passionate  grief 
and  anxiety,  Diirer  wrote:  "O  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  pray  for  thy  peo- 
ple, redeem  us  in  thy  right  time.  Keep  us  in  the  true  Christian  faith, 
gather  thy  widely  scattered  sheep  by  the  call  of  the  Holy  Word, 
help  us  to  recognise  thy  voice  and  not  follow  the  lure  of  specious, 
human  arguments,  that  we  may  not  depart  from  Thee.  O  God, 
Thou  dost  will  that  before  Thou  dost  exercise  judgment,  that,  as  Thy 
Son,  Jesus  Christ  must  die  at  the  hands  of  the  priests,  that  it  shall  be 
even  so  with  his  successor  Martin  Luther,  .  .  .  him  thou  wilt 
also  bring  to  eternal  hfe.  .  .  .  But,  O  God!  if  Martin  Luther 
is  dead  who  will  preserve  to  us  thy  Holy  Evangel!  What  all  might 
he  not  have  written  for  us  in  the  next  ten  or  twenty  years!  O!  all 
you  pious  Christians,  help  me  to  pray  God  that  he  may  send  us  an- 
other in  his  stead!  O!  Erasmus  of  Rotterdam,  where  art  thou? 
See  what  the  unjust  tyranny  of  worldy  might  and  the  powers  of 
darkness  are  accomplishing!  Hearken,  thou  Knight  of  Christ,  ride 
forth  beside  the  Lord  Christ,  defend  the  truth,  win  the  crown  of 
martyrdom. " 

In  the  following  summer  the  painter  returned  to  Nuremberg 
and  received  at  once  a  commission  from  the  City  Council  to 
decorate  the  Council  Chamber  with  frescoes  for  which  he,  how- 
ever, made  only  the  drawings.  The  themes  were  the  "Triumphal 
Car  of  Emperor  MaximiUan,'*  of  which  Diirer  made  a  woodcut 
in  1522;  "Calumny,"  for  which  a  very  careful  drawing  is  in  the 
Albertina;  and  the  "City  Musicians."  The  pictures  after  these 
designs  are  still  to  be  seen  in  the  City  Hall;  they  were  possibly 
painted  originally  by  Diirer' s  pupil  Georg  Pencz,  but  have  been 
repainted. 

The  chief  works  that  have  come  down  to  us  from  this  period 
are  portraits  engraved  or  done  in  oils.  In  1512  was  painted  the 
beautiful  picture  in  the  Prado,  of  the  Nuremberg  patrician,  Hans 
Imhof  the  Elder,  wearing  a  broad-brimmed  hat.  The  most  inter- 
esting copper-plate  portraits  are  the  two  of  "the  great  Cardinal" 
Duke  Albrecht  of  Brandenburg,  which  were  engraved  in  1524;  of 
the  humanist,  Eoban  Hesse,  1522;  of  Willibald  Pirkheimer,  states- 
man, scholar  and  Diirer's  lifelong  friend,  1524;  of  Elector  Frederick 
the  Wise  of  Saxony,  1524;  of  Erasmus  and  Melanchthon,   1526. 


268  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

In  this  year,  1526,  the  artist  painted  his  last  portraits  in  oil. 
That  of  Pirkheimer's  son-in-law,  Johann  Kleeberger,  in  Vienna 
Gallery,  is  in  medallion  form  and  like  an  old  Roman  portrait- 
bust.  That  of  Jacob  Muffel  of  Nuremberg,  in  Berlin  Gallery, 
introduces  us  to  an  earnest  and  forceful  old  man  who  stood  high 
in  the  councils  of  his  city.  But  perhaps  the  most  beautiful  of 
all  Diirer's  portraits  is  the  one  of  Hieronymus  Holzschuher,  in 
Berlin  Gallery.  It  is  a  picture  showing  head  and  shoulders  of  a 
fine-featured  old  man  with  fresh  colouring  and  silvery  hair  and 
beard,  who  looks  out  with  such  a  penetrating  glance  and  such 
an  expression  of  life,  that  the  whole  personality  stands  revealed 
to  us  with  almost  startling  power.  The  modelling  is  soft  and  life- 
like, the  bearing  free,  the  colouring  harmonious,  the  treatment  of 
the  grey  hair  and  beard  truly  wonderful  in  its  effect  of  naturalness 
and  of  picturesque  beauty. 

During  his  stay  in  the  Netherlands  the  artist  had  conceived  the 
idea  of  making  in  woodcuts  yet  another  series  of  scenes  from  the 
Passion.  This  work  he  now  resumed,  but  it  did  not  reach  comple- 
tion as  a  whole,  and  only  single  engravings  and  drawings  remain  to 
us,  in  Florence,  Frankfort,  and  the  Germanic  Museum. 

In  1526  Diirer  was  moved  to  create  what  proved  to  be  his 
last  great  work.  Without  commission  to  do  the  work,  out  of  the 
fullness  of  his  heart,  as  a  gift,  he  painted  on  two  panels,  the  "Four 
Apostles,"  and  presented  the  pictures  to  the  council  for  the  City  of 
Nuremberg.  In  the  letter  of  presentation  the  artist  reveals  the 
nobility  of  his  ideals  for  his  work  and  his  humility  as  to  his  own 
attainments. 

"Prudent,  honourable,  wise,  dear  Masters,"  the  letter  runs, 
"I  have  been  intending  for  a  long  time  past,  to  show  my  respect 
for  your  Wisdoms  by  the  presentation  of  some  humble  picture  of 
mine  as  a  remembrance;  but  I  have  been  prevented  from  so  doing 
by  the  imperfection  and  insignificance  of  my  works,  for  I  felt  that 
with  such  I  could  not  well  stand  before  your  Wisdoms.  Now,  how- 
ever, that  I  have  just  painted  a  picture  upon  which  I  have  bestowed 
more  trouble  than  on  any  other  painting,  I  considered  none  more 
worthy  to  keep  it  as  a  remembrance  than  your  Wisdoms." 

On  the  one  panel  are  represented  Peter  and  John,  on  the  other 


Photograph  by  Franz  Hanfstaengl 


ALBRECHT  DURER 

Portrait  of  Hierontmus  Holzschuher 
kaiser  friedrich  museum,  berlin 


Photograph  by  Franz  Hanfstaengl 


ALBRECHT  DtlRER 

Four  Apostles 
alte  pinakothek,  munich 


ALBRECHT  DURER  269 

Mark  and  Paul.  The  figures  are  marvellously  human  and  full  of 
life  yet  are  conceived  in  monumental,  ceremonial  style.  Peter, 
sombre  a,nd  intense,  John,  dreamy  and  tender,  Paul,  commanding, 
keen  and  forceful,  Mark,  emotional  and  poetic,  are  well  fitted  to 
fulfil  the  purpose  for  which,  according  to  the  inscription,  they  were 
intended — to  utter  their  warnings  against  falsehood  and  evil,  their 
admonitions  to  truth,  uprightness,  sincerity  and  Christian  love, 
forever,  from  the  Rathaus  walls  to  the  councillors  and  people  of 
Durer*s  city.* 

The  next  year,  1527,  Diirer  published  a  long  essay  on  the  "Art 
of  Fortification."  This  was  his  second  written  work,  as  he  had  given 
out,  in  1525,  a  volume  entitled  "The  Teaching  of  Measurements 
with  Rule  and  Compass."  He  was  also  preparing  for  publication 
a  four- volume  work,  "Human  Proportions,"  upon  which  he  had  been 
engaged  almost  all  his  life.  Two  books  only  were  ready  for  the  press 
when  the  artist  died  suddenly,  April  6th,  1528. 

He  had  not  been  in  good  health  since  his  trip  to  Zealand,  where  he 
had  contracted  a  strange  illness  which  the  doctors  could  not  under-, 
stand.  In  his  pain  he  had  made  a  drawing  of  himself  in  dull  red 
crayon,  which  is  almost  like  a  study  for  a  "Man  of  Sorrows;"  he 
is  pointing  to  a  spot  on  his  side,  and  on  the  picture  is  written,  "Here 
where  the  yellow  spot  is,  at  which  my  finger  points,  is  the  seat 
of  my  illness."  But  no  one  knew  he  was  more  ill  than  usual 
and  his  death  came  as  a  shock,  deeply  felt  by  men  of  great 
minds  and  hearts  all  over  Europe.  "I  have  lost  the  best  friend 
I  ever  had  on  earth,"  cried  Pirkheimer.  Camerarius,  in  his  Latin 
preface  to  the  posthumous  pubhcation  of  DUrer's  work,  "Human 
Proportions,"  could  not  find  words  in  which  to  express  his  appre- 
ciation of  his  scholarship,  his  artistic  genius,  his  beautiful  dispo- 
sition, his  pure,  unspotted  soul.  Melanchthon  mourned  the  loss 
all  Germany  must  suffer  in  his  passing.  Luther  wrote  to  Eoban 
Hesse,  "We  may  count  him  fortunate,  whom  Christ  has  so 
illumined,  that  he  is  taken  away  out  of  these  stormy  times, 
which,  I  foresee,  will  become  yet  more  stormy,  that  he  who  was 

*  Maximilian  of  Bavaria  managed  by  force  and  intrigue  to  obtain  these  pictures  from  the 
Nuremberg  Council  and  they  now  hang  in  the  Old  Pinakothek,  Munich. 


270  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

worthy  to  see  only  the  best,  should  not  be  obliged  to  see   the 
worst.'* 

After  the  lapse  of  two  centuries  we  hear  the  estimate  of  Diirer's 
work  and  art  from  the  lips  of  another  supreme  genius  of  his  nation, 
Goethe:  "In  truth  and  nobility  and  even  in  beauty  and  grace, 
Diirer,  if  one  really  knows  him  with  heart  and  mind,  is  equalled  by 
only  the  very  greatest  Italian  masters." 


CHAPTER  XXXVII 

NUREMBERG 

PUPILS  AND  FOLLOWERS  OF  DtJRER 

Hans  Diirer — Hans  Springinklee — Hans  Suess  von  Kulmbach — Hans  Leonhar 
Schaiufelein — Master  von  Messkirch  (Jorg  Ziegler) — Georg  Pencz — Hans 
Sebald  Beham — Barthel  Beham 

FOR  a  quarter  of  a  century  after  Diirer' s  death  his  pupils  and 
followers  continued  to  work  more  or  less  in  his  manner.  Of 
these  there  were  two  generations.  The  older  was  composed  of 
such  painters  as  Hans  von  Kulmbach  and  Hans  Leonhard  Schaufelein, 
artists  but  little  younger  in  years  than  the  master,  who  were  his 
students  and  assistants  and  whose  works  always  gave  distinct  evi- 
dence of  their  association  with  him,  even  though  they  themselves 
went  out  into  other  cities  and  set  up  schools  of  their  own.  To  the 
younger  generation  belonged  Georg  Pencz,  Hans  Sebald  and  Bar- 
thel Beham,  who  were  practically  the  last  of  the  characteris- 
tically German  artists;  indeed  their  works,  before  the  end,  re- 
vealed the  ascendancy  of  that  Italian  influence  which  dominated 
the  art  of  Germany  in  the  two  centuries  following. 

Among  the  followers  of  Diirer  must  also  be  reckoned  his  own 
brother  Hans,  who  was  but  a  faulty  imitator  of  the  great  Albrecht. 
Hans  Diirer,  the  youngest  member  of  the  family,  born  in  1490,  was 
but  twelve  years  old  when  his  father  died,  and  his  brother  seems  to 
have  taken  almost  fatherly  care  of  him.  He  taught  him  the  rudi- 
ments of  painting  and,  as  he  wrote  to  Pirkheimer,  *'  wanted  to  bring 
him  to  Venice,  but  his  mother  was  afraid  that  the  heavens  would 
fall  on  him.'*  So  he  made  arrangements  for  the  boy  to  continue 
his  studies  with  Wolgemut  until  his  return  from  Italy.  In  1515  we 
find  him  associated  with  Albrecht  in  illustrating  the  Emperor  Max- 
imilian's Prayerbook,  for  which  he  made  twenty-two  marginal  draw- 
ings which  carefully  reproduce  the  external  characteristics  of  his 
brother  Albrecht's  style  but  without  a  trace  of  his  genius.  When 
he  tries  to  draw  with  soft  and  yielding  outlines,  he  is  inaccurate; 
when  he  endeavours  to  characterise  minutely,  the  work  is  that  of  an 

271 


272  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

amateur  who  loses  sight  of  the  whole  in  wearisome  over-emphasis  of 
detail. 

The  year  after  his  brother's  death  Hans  Diirer  went  to  Cracow, 
where  he  remained  until  1538  in  the  service  of  the  King  of  Poland. 
To  this  period  belongs  the  picture  in  Cracow  Museum,  signed  with 
the  monogram  HD  and  dated  1526,  which  represents  St.  Jerome 
in  the  forest  kneeling  before  a  cross.  The  landscape,  with  its  dark 
green  trees,  yellow  Hght  falling  in  dots  and  patches  on  the  leaves 
through  which  the  pale  blue  sky  shimmers,  is  reminiscent  of  Alt- 
dorfer.  The  conception  is  lacking  in  inspiration,  however,  and  the 
execution  is  craftsmanlike  in  character. 

A  pupil  who  was  closely  associated  with  Durer  in  the  early  days 
was  Hans  Springinklee,  of  whom  Neudorjffer  records:  " Springinklee 
lived  in  the  house  with  Albrecht  Diirer;  he  learned  his  art  there,  so 
that  he  became  famous  in  painting  and  drawing."  Of  authentic 
works  only  woodcuts  remain,  however,  though  Schausing  attributes 
to  him  also  the  eight  drawings  that  are  signed  with  a  crane  in  the 
Munich  section  of  Emperor  Maximilian's  Prayerbook. 

Better  fortune  has  attended  the  works  of  Hans  Suess,  called 
Hans  von  Kulmbach  from  the  Franconian  village  in  which  he  was 
born  in  1476.  His  student  years  were  spent  in  Nuremberg,  at  first 
with  the  Venetian  Jacopo  dei  Barbari,  who  in  1500  set  up  a  school 
there,  and  later  with  Diirer.  The  influence  of  both  masters  is  felt  in 
his  "Adoration  of  the  Kings,"  in  Berlin  Gallery,  which  was  painted 
in  1511.  The  setting,  beside  the  arches  of  a  ruined  castle,  is  simi- 
lar to  that  in  Diirer's  "Adoration,"  in  the  UflBzi,  but  the  composition, 
while  well-balanced,  is  not  so  significant.  The  Virgin  and  Child 
are  seated  quite  to  the  left  in  the  picture  and  two  of  the  worshipping 
kings  are  permitted  to  come  almost  directly  between  them  and  the 
spectator,  so  that,  since  their  position  is  not  elevated,  they  do  not 
claim  the  instant  attention  which  is  their  due,  as  the  centre  of 
interest  in  the  scene.  The  Virgin  is  of  the  full,  Venetian  type  of 
Jacopo  dei  Barbari's  women;  like  his  are  also  the  light  flesh  tones 
with  yellow  shadows.  Behind  the  holy  pair,  Joseph  is  shaking 
hands  with  a  man  in  handsome,  fur -trimmed  robes,  evidently  the 
donor.  To  the  right  of  this  group,  between  the  arches,  may  be 
seen  approaching  the  third  king ;  a  servant  is  handing  him  a  golden 


PUPILS  AND  FOLLOWERS  OF  DURER  273 

urn.  Behind  him  are  the  members  of  his  suite  arrayed  in  a  great 
variety  of  costumes;  among  them  are  two  attendants  who  are  mounted 
on  heavy  horses.  In  the  middle  of  the  group  stands  a  man  in 
simple  garb  and  a  small  black  cap,  who  manifestly  does  not  belong 
to  the  company  as  either  king  or  servant  and  who  surveys  the  scene 
with  such  absorbed  interest,  yet  with  such  an  air  of  detachment 
that  he  attracts  our  notice.  It  is  evidently  the  artist  himself  who 
has  chosen  to  be  present  on  this  ceremonial  occasion  and  not 
simply  to  be  content  with  the  monogram  H.  K.  and  date  1511, 
on  the  pillar  to  the  left.  The  people  in  this  picture  are  all 
attractive  and  refined,  the  colouring  is  pleasing  and  the  shimmer- 
ing robes  and  gleaming  gold  and  jewels  are  rendered  with  great 
naturalness  and  beauty.  The  atmosphere  is  heavily  charged  with 
sentiment,  so  heavily,  indeed,  that  we  receive  the  impression  that 
it  is  injected  purposely  and  consciously  and  that  the  languish- 
ing glances  are  an  outcome  of  the  painter's  intellectual  judgment 
rather  than  the  spontaneous  expression  of  the  actors'  emotions. 

Two  years  later  the  artist  painted  an  altar  for  Lawrence  Tucher, 
which  was  set  up  in  St.  Sebald's  Church  in  Nuremberg  in  1513.  It 
presents,  in  a  landscape,  the  Virgin  and  Child,  toward  whom  two 
angels  are  flying,  bearing  a  crown.  The  attitude  of  the  Virgin  and 
the  treatment  of  the  beautiful  landscape  recalls  many  drawings 
by  Durer  which  have  the  same  theme.  Beside  the  Madonna  stand 
St.  Catherine  and  St.  Barbara;  on  the  wings  are  other  saints  and  the 
donor.  The  types  of  people  are  the  same  as  those  in  Jacopo  dei 
Barbari's  pictures  and  the  little  angels  who  make  music  at  the 
feet  of  the  holy  pair  are  like  those  in  the  Venetian  Madonna 
pictures. 

Very  Venetian  is  also  the  "St.  George,"  in  the  Germanic  Mu- 
seum, which  is  attributed  to  Hans  von  Kulmbach.  The  youth- 
ful saint  is  presented  standing  in  a  richly  ornamented  Renaissance 
arch,  clad  in  shining  steel  armour  on  which  the  light  plays  enchant- 
ingly,  his  gauritleted  hands  resting  on  a  heavy  flagstaff  which  he 
supports  against  his  shoulder  and  from  which  hangs  a  red  flag.  His 
features  are  long  and  fine  almost  to  the  point  of  sharpness,  his  large 
eyes  are  rather  staring,  his  blond  hair  curls  riotously  all  over  his 
head.     With  the  light  playing  on  the  armour,  on  the  heavy  halo 


274  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

and  the  curls,  and  the  splash  of  red  flag  behind  the  figure  as  the 
only  positive  note  of  colour,  the  effect  of  the  whole  is  wonderfully 
decorative. 

More  German  are  the  types  presented  in  the  eight  scenes  from 
the  Lives  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  in  the  Uffizi  Gallery,  Florence. 
In  the  "St.  Peter  Preaching,"  for  example,  though  the  setting  is  in  a 
room  which  is  elaborately  decorated  with  garlands,  and  though  the 
saint  himself  is  almost  effeminate  in  appearance,  the  muscular 
men  in  the  audience  with  their  low,  square  foreheads  and  irreg- 
ular features  are  German  in  type  as  are  also  the  women  in  their 
characteristic  white  caps.  The  latter,  to  be  sure,  are  seated  so 
that  we  can  see  the  faces  of  only  three  or  four  of  them;  of  the 
others  nothing  is  visible  but  the  tops  of  those  white  headdresses — 
an  effect  which  is  surprisingly  like  that  gained  by  some  of  our 
very  modern  painters  in  pictures  with  such  a  subject  as  "A  F^te 
Day  in  Brittany." 

In  1514  the  artist  went  to  Cracow,  where  he  preceded  Hans 
Diirer  as  court  painter.  The  four  years  spent  there  were  most 
fruitful,  and  in  its  churches  there  are  to  be  seen  thirteen  of  his 
pictures.  In  St.  John's  Chapel  are  four  large  panels  which  present, 
from  the  Life  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  the  scenes  of  the  Last 
Supper,  the  Blessing  of  the  Chalice,  the  Martyrdom  in  Boiling  Oil 
and  the  Revelation  on  Patmos. 

In  "TheLast  Supper"  the  men  are  quite  Diireresque,  and  the 
draperies  are  handled  in  the  manner  of  the  Nuremberg  master.  The 
excitement  and  anger  in  the  faces  and  gestures  of  the  disciples  when 
they  learn  of  the  treachery  of  one  of  their  number  are  well  enough 
rendered  but  fail  to  be  impressive  because  they  are  not  spontaneous 
but  are  obviously  studies  in  expression. 

In  composition  and  setting,  ''The  Blessing  of  the  Chalice"  re- 
sembles a  Venetian  pageant  picture,  though  it  is  less  elegant  and 
imposing.  It  shows  St.  John  ascending  the  steps  of  the  High  Priest's 
throne,  watched  with  amazement  by  a  throng  of  people  as  he 
blesses  and  renders  harmless  the  poisoned  drink  that  has  brought 
death  to  the  criminals  whose  bodies  are  still  lying  where  they  fell. 

Quite  lovely  is  the  Vision  of  the  Virgin  vouchsafed  to  the  lone 
scribe  on  Patmos.     Over  the  saint  and  the  beautiful  island  with  its 


Photograph  by  Fried.  Hoefle,  Augsburg 

HANS  SUESS  VON  KULMBACH 

St.  George  in  Armour 
germanic  museum,  nuremberg 


Photograph  by  G.  Brogi,  Florence 


HANS  SUESS  VON  KULMBACH 

St.  Peter  Preaching 
uffizi  gallery,  florence 


PUPILS  AND  FOLLOWERS  OF  DURER  275 

mountains  and  its  waterfall,  is  shed,  from  the  opened  heavens,  a 
miraculous  light  that  glorifies  the  whole  scene.  It  is  not  exalted, 
it  is  true,  to  the  height  of  a  sublime  vision  such  as  Griinewald  saw; 
Hans  von  Kulmbach  was  not  great  enough  in  mind  or  imagination 
to  be  able  to  bear  the  really  opened  heavens;  but  the  world  catches 
radiance  for  a  moment  in  this  picture  and  can  rejoice  even  in  the 
lesser  gift. 

Similar  effects  in  lighting  have  been  sought  by  the  artist,  but 
with  less  success,  in  some  of  the  eight  pictures  from  the  legends  of 
St.  Catherine  of  Alexandria,  which  are  in  the  sacristy  of  St.  Mary's 
Church.  An  unearthly  light  is  shed  upon  the  kneeling  saint  when 
there  is  vouchsafed  to  her  the  Vision  of  the  Queen  of  Heaven; 
the  snow-clad  mountains  are  bathed  in  the  beauty  of  the  afterglow 
in  the  scene  of  her  Burial,  while,  in  her  Assumption,  the  whole  sky 
becomes  one  great  rainbow.  But  beautiful  as  are  these  effects  of 
lighting,  they  fail  to  be  convincing,  because  of  the  superficial  nat- 
ures of  the  people  whom  such  glory  is  supposed  to  attend.  It  is 
much  more  radiance  than  is  really  necessary  to  reflect  the  shallow 
emotions  and  calculated  poses  of  those  taking  part  in  the  scenes. 
It  does  not  seem  reasonable  that  the  whole  glory  of  the  celestial 
world  should  be  poured  out  upon  people  who  are  so  far  from 
rhapsodical,  so  little  ecstatic  as  these;  it  is  an  experience  which 
must,  in  large  measure,  create  itself  in  fervor  of  soul  and  imagi- 
native reach;  and  its  effect  when  it  fails  to  be  consorted  with  such 
inward  cause  is  merely  that  of  a  clever  bit  of  technique. 

In  1520  the  artist  left  Cracow  and  returned  to  Nuremberg 
where,  two  years  later,  he  died. 

Hans  Suess  von  Kulmbach  was  not  greatly  gifted  with  either 
insight  or  imagination.  His  colouring  is  usually  pleasing,  and  his 
rendering  of  materials  is  of  exceptional  loveliness.  His  people  are 
attractive  but  rather  superficial  and  are  not  characterised  by  self- 
forgetfulness  or  absorption  in  great  thoughts,  noble  ideals  or 
imaginative  visions.  In  spite  of  a  misleading  appearance  of  it 
due  to  the  lighting,  they  are  without  the  power  of  spiritual 
rapture.  Hence  his  pictures  are  simply  pleasing  without  the 
power  to  stimulate  or  exalt. 

Closely  associated  with  Diirer  personally,  was  Hans  Leonhard 


276  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

Schaufelein,  a  member  of  a  Swabian  family,  whose  father  had  moved 
from  Nordlingen  to  Nuremberg  in  1476,  some  fom*  years  before  his 
son's  birth.  He  probably  learned  the  rudiments  of  his  art  from 
Wolgemut,  for  when  Diirer  returned  to  Nuremberg  after  his  Wander- 
jahre  Schaufelein  was  sufficiently  schooled  to  enter  his  workshop  as 
an  assistant.  In  1512  he  went  to  Augsburg  for  a  time,  then  in  1515, 
took  up  his  residence  in  Nordlingen,  where  he  remained  until  his 
death  in  1540. 

One  of  his  first  works  was  the  altar  in  the  church  in  Ober  St. 
Veit,  near  Vienna,  which  was  painted  for  Elector  Frederick  the  Wise 
in  1502  and  which  was  formerly  ascribed  to  Diirer.  On  the  ground 
of  their  resemblance  to  this  altar  the  pictures  on  the  wings  of  the  High 
Altar  in  St.  John's  Church,  Schwabach,  which  for  so  long  were 
attributed  to  Michael  Wolgemut,  are  now  believed  to  be  Schauf- 
elein's  work.  To  this  early  period  belong  also,  doubtless,  the  seven 
scenes  from  the  Life  of  Christ,  in  Dresden  Gallery,  which  were 
formerly  vaguely  assigned  to  Diirer's  School. 

Characteristic  of  the  artist's  Nuremberg  period  is  such  a  picture 
as  the  one  in  the  Germanic  Museum  representing  Christ  on  the 
Cross,  John  the  Baptist  and  King  David,  with,  in  the  background, 
Moses  receiving  the  Tables  of  the  Law,  which  was  painted  in  1508. 
The  scene  is  set  in  a  landscape  with  a  cloudy,  troubled  sky.  The 
forms  are  slender,  well  rounded  but  weakly  modelled;  the  faces  of. 
the  women  are  short  with  regular  and  fine  features,  the  men  possess 
considerable  dignity  and  refinement,  though  they  do  not  appeal  to  us 
as  particularly  virile  or  strong  personalities.  A  touch  of  pictur- 
esqueness  is  lent  to  their  appearance  by  their  tumbled  hair  and  their 
curling  beards  which  are  always  tossed  as  if  blown  by  the  wind.  The 
Christ  type  is  modelled  after  Diirer's  but  is  so  much  less  noble  as  to 
be  unimpressive,  almost  insignificant.  The  conception  of  the  scene 
is  altogether  lacking  in  bigness  of  comprehension  and  in  depth  of 
insight. 

Whenever  possible,  indeed,  the  artist  passes  over  the  deepest 
significance  of  a  serious  or  tragic  scene  in  favour  of  the  simple  story, 
which  he  tells  with  true  Swabian  grace.  So  in  "St.  Jerome  in  the 
Wilderness,"  in  the  Germanic  Museum,  though  he  presents  in  the 
foreground  the  saint  kneeling  before  the  crucifix,  his  garments  dropped 


PUPILS  ANI>  FOLLOWERS  OF  DURER  277 

to  his  waist  and  in  his  right  hand  the  round  stone  with  which  he  will 
subdue  the  flesh,  there  is  in  the  kneeling  figure  no  suggestion  of  self 
negation,  self  abasement  or  inner  conflict.  It  is  impossible  to  regard 
his  problems  as  of  tragic  seriousness.  This  is  just  "a  story"  like 
any  other  folk  or  fairy  tale.  We  go  on  at  once  to  read  the  rest  of  it. 
Behind  the  saint  on  a  tree  trunk  hangs  his  Cardinal's  hat,  on  the 
ground  before  him  are  an  open  book  and  a  death's  head;  in  a  grove 
of  trees  to  the  right  is  the  little  monastery  chapel.  Down  the  road, 
through  the  lovely  wooded  bit  of  landscape  which  the  high  hills  in 
the  near  background  shut  off  from  the  rest  of  the  world,  comes  the 
lion  driving  the  camels  he  has  captured  home  to  the  cloister,  which 
he  serves  out  of  gratitude  to  the  saint  for  healing  his  hurt  paw.  His 
office  it  was  to  guard  the  monks'  donkey;  but  once,  overcome  by 
weariness,  he  fell  asleep  and  a  passing  caravan  of  merchants  stole 
the  donkey.  When  he  awoke,  the  lion,  in  terrific,  righteous  wrath, 
hastened  after  them,  frightened  them  into  flight,  and  then,  as  we 
can  see,  with  stern  but  satisfied  air,  drove  their  richly  laden  camels 
as  just  and  proper  compensation  home  to  his  monastery.  The 
story  is  charmingly  told,  in  a  setting  of  unusual  loveliness  and  with 
much  beauty  of  colour. 

It  was  doubtless  upon  an  invitation  from  the  City  Council  that 
the  artist  removed  to  NordUngen  in  1515,  for  in  the  same  year  he 
painted  the  scenes  from  the  story  of  Judith  on  the  wall  of  the  City 
Hall  there.  The  mountainous  landscape  of  the  picture  is  divided  into 
sections  in  each  of  which  a  scene  is  set.  In  the  middle  distance  are 
Judith  and  her  maidens;  to  the  left,  preparations  for  battle  are  in 
progress;  in  the  foreground  are  Judith  and  Holof ernes.  The  whole 
landscape  is  crowded  with  figures  arrayed  in  the  costumes  of  the 
period,  marching,  sleeping,  busied  about  many  and  various  things,  and 
all  in  considerable  confusion,  so  that  it  is  difficult  to  distinguish  the 
different  scenes  and  to  relate  them  to  one  another.  Of  the  colouring 
we  can  form  no  idea,  as  the  picture,  which  was  originally  done  in 
tempera  has  been  thoroughly  restored  in  oils. 

It  was  after  he  moved  to  Nordlingen  that  Schaufelein  painted, 
in  1521,  that  most  beautiful  of  all  his  works,  the  altar-piece  presented 
by  Nicholas  Ziegler  to  St.  George's  Church  there.  The  picture  from 
the  shrine, ' 'Mourning  over  the  Dead  Christ,"  is  still  in  the  baptistery 


278  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

of  the  church;  the  wings,  containing  the  figures  of  Saints  Barbara, 
EUzabeth,  Nicholas  and  another  bishop,  have  been  removed  to  the 
Museum.  The  two  female  saints  are  of  rare  loveliness.  They  are 
presented  standing  on  a  base  of  coloured  marble,  in  plain  Renaissance 
niches  almost  without  ornamentation,  and  are  dressed  richly  yet 
very  simply,  in  costumes  of  Schaufelein's  day,  which  are  faithfully 
rendered  without  any  superfluous  folds  or  quirks  in  their  draping. 
St.  Barbara,  the  softly  rounded  oval  of  her  face  framed  by  her  abun- 
dant hair,  which,  falling  low  over  her  ears  is  then  bound  up  under  her 
crown,  stands  with  downcast  eyes  and  an  expression  of  gentle  com- 
passion, holding  in  her  hand  a  chalice  and  a  white  scarf.  She  is  the 
helper  of  men  in  their  last  need;  those  who  trust  in  her  shall  not  die 
without  the  saving  sacrament. 

St.  Elizabeth,  slightly  more  mature,  her  hair  entirely  covered  by 
a  cap,  the  frill  of  which  falls  softly  about  her  face,  is  pouring  wine 
from  her  pitcher  into  the  bowl  of  a  rather  elaborately  draped  beggar 
who  sits  at  her  feet.  Her  expression  is  altogether  winning  in  its 
utter  lack  of  self -consciousness,  its  responsive  sympathy  and  kindli- 
ness. There  are  few  figures  in  any  art  more  graceful  and  attractive 
than  these;  but  they  are  entirely  human,  secular  personages — sweet, 
serious,  philanthropic  women,  whom  one  would  like  to  number 
among  one's  friends. 

During  the  artist's  last  years  he  was  engaged  upon  the  illustra- 
tions for  a  Psalter  for  Count  Carl  Wolfgang  von  Ottingen,  which  is 
now  in  Berlin  Print  Room.  In  these  he  does  not  follow  his  text  at 
all  closely,  but,  instead,  gives  us  interesting  glimpses  of  the  life 
of  his  own  day,  picturing,  with  gay  freedom  and  fancifulness, 
scenes  from  the  hunt,  from  war,  and  from  the  life  of  the  street. 
Here  and  there  the  need  for  the  Reformation  movement  is 
brought  out  by  the  representations  of  the  immorality,  the  de- 
bauchery of  the  monastic  orders.  None  of  Schaufelein's  works 
is  more  attractive  than  this  Psalter.  It  reveals  him  at  his  best 
as  an  artist  who,  though  without  real  accuracy  of  drawing 
presents  attractive  types,  without  real  depth  of  emotion  or  imag- 
ination infuses  charm  into  his  pictures,  partly  by  beauty  of  his 
people,  but  principally  by  a  certain  Swabian  quality  of  grace- 
fulness in  his  story  telHng. 


Photograph  by  Fried.  Hoefle,  Augsburg 


HANS  LEONHARD  SCHAUFELEIN 

St.  Jerome  in  the  Wilderness 
germanic  museum,  nuremberg 


Photograph  by  Fried.  Hoefle,  Augsburg 

MASTER  OF  MESSKIRCH 

Virgin  Adored  by  Saints 
gallery,  donaueschingen 


PUPILS  AND  FOLLOWERS  OF  DURER  279 

A  pupil  of  Hans  Schaufelein  whose  art  reveals  an  unusual, 
quaint  personality  has  been  named  the  Master  of  Messkirch  from 
his  altar-piece  in  the  parish  church  in  the  village  of  Messkirch,  near 
Ulm,  which  was  painted  between  1520  and  1540.  Some  authorities 
have  identified  him  as  the  Swabian  painter  Jorg  Ziegler. 

The  middle  section  of  the  Messkirch  altar,  which  is  still  in  the 
church,  represents  the  Adoration  of  the  Kings,  while  three  pictures 
from  the  wings,  in  Donaueschingen  Gallery,  present  Saints  Mary 
Magdalen,  Martin  and  John  the  Baptist,  with  the  donors,  the  Count 
and  Countess  von  Zimmern.  It  is,  indeed,  in  this  interesting  gallery 
which  Prince  Furstenberg  maintains  in  the  httle  town  at  the  source 
of  the  Danube,  that  we  can  best  make  acquaintance  with  this  master, 
though  representative  works  are  to  be  found  in  Munich  Pinakothek 
and  elsewhere,  and  an  especially  charming  small  altar  is  in  the 
collection  of  Prince  HohenzoUern  in  the  Castle  at  Sigmar- 
ingen,  at  the  other  end  of  this  picturesque  bit  of  the 
Danube  valley.  What  attracts  us  first  to  his  pictures  is  the  un- 
usual type  of  his  people,  who  all  bear  such  a  marked  "family" 
resemblance  to  one  another  that  the  works  of  the  master  are 
readily  recognised  wherever  seen.  The  women  are  round-faced, 
like  those  in  Schaufelein's  pictures,  but  much  more  so;  they  are 
less  dignified,  more  childishly  pretty;  the  men  wear  their  hair  in 
smooth,  regular  curls,  while  their  beards  are  blown  quite  to  one 
side.  The  chins  are  very  short,  the  mouths  small  with  curving 
Hps,  the  noses  short  and  rather  broad,  the  cheeks  chubby,  the 
eyeHds  full.  The  figures  are  usually  small  of  stature  and  plump; 
the  draperies  are  exceedingly  full.  The  colouring  is  very  fight, 
the  flesh  tones  quite  pink  and  white,  the  hair  blond.  The 
painter  tells  his  stories  in  an  old-fashioned  way  with,  here  and 
there,  even  an  archaic  touch,  as  the  introduction  into  the  scene  of  the 
Crucifixion  of  the  sun  and  moon  with  human  faces.  But  his  old- 
fashioned  manner  has  its  own  charm  which,  with  the  fresh  youth- 
fulness  of  his  people  and  the  childishly  eager  and  sentimental  atti- 
tudes they  assume,  gives  his  pictures  an  attraction  all  their  own. 

To  the  second  generation  of  Diirer's  pupils  belonged  Georg 
Pencz  and  the  brothers  Hans  Sebald  and  Barthel  Beham.  They 
were  all  about  the  same  age,  Pencz  and  Hans  Sebald  Beham  having 


280  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

been  born  in  the  same  year,  1500,  and  Barthel  Beham  in  1502. 
All  three  were  hot-blooded  and  enthusiastic  young  thinkers  or 
visionaries,  members  of  the  extreme  socialistic  faction  which  had 
developed  among  the  supporters  of  the  Reformation  and  which 
gathered  about  Thomas  Munzer  as  its  leader  when  he  came  to 
Nuremberg  in  1524.  They  were  evidently  rashly  outspoken,  for 
they  were  summoned  before  the  City  Council  charged  with  atheism 
and  socialism  and  were  sentenced  to  banishment  from  the  city. 
This  banishment  did  not  last  long,  however,  for  all  three  were 
back  in  Nuremberg  after  but  a  short  time.  The  very  next 
year  indeed,  1525,  Georg  Pencz  received  permission  to  settle  very 
near  Nuremberg,  in  Windstein.  In  1532  he  became  painter 
to  the  Nuremberg  City  Council;  in  1550  he  died  in  Breslau,  in 
great  need. 

Georg  Pencz  was  chiefly  active  as  an  engraver  and  of  his  pic- 
tures few  except  portraits  remain  to  us.  The  frescoes  in  the  City 
Hall  in  Nuremberg  are  supposed  to  have  been  painted  by  him  after 
designs  by  Diirer  but  they  have  been  so  retouched  that  it  is  impos- 
sible to  verify  the  attribution.  In  the  Germanic  Museum  is  his 
coloured  drawing  of  the  Schonbrunnen,  which  in  all  repaintings  of 
the  famous  old  fountain  serves  as  a  guide  to  the  original  colouring. 
Sandrart,  the  chronicler,  records  that  he  saw  a  room  in  Volkamer's 
Pleasure  Garden  painted  by  Pencz  "as  if  the  room  were  not  yet 
built  and  all  the  carpenters  were  at  work  .  .  .  against  a  sky  with 
clouds  and  flying  birds,  all  most  natural."  Of  his  altar-pieces  only 
one  remains  to  us,  the  "Adoration  of  the  Magi,"  in  three  sections  in 
Dresden  Gallery,  which  presents,  in  front  of  a  ruined  palace,  a 
scene  quite  similar  to  that  in  Hans  von  Kulmbach's  picture  with  the 
same  subject. 

In  his  later  life  the  painter  came  under  the  influence  of  Michael 
Angelo's  gigantic  forms,  with  the  result  that  his  types  became  huge 
and  his  colouring  cold,  as  in  the  "Caritas  Romana"  in  the  Harrach 
Gallery,  Vienna,  which  was  painted  in  1546.  Yet  this  influence, 
which  was  so  injurious  to  his  other  works,  seems  only  to  have  lent 
to  his  portraits  a  more  idealised,  purified  naturalism.  That  is  to 
say,  while  the  presentation  remained  lifelike,  the  painfully  minute, 
oftentimes  hard  execution  of  so  many  of  the  German  portrait  painters 


PUPILS  AND  FOLLOWERS  OF  DtJRER  281 

gave  way  to  breadth  of  treatment.  The  finest  of  these  portraits  is, 
perhaps,  that  of  Jorg  Herz,  a  Nuremberg  goldsmith,  which  was 
painted  in  1545  and  is  now  in  Carlsruhe  Gallery.  It  presents,  in 
three-quarter  length,  a  man  seated,  wearing  a  beautiful  black 
cloak  richly  trimmed  with  fur  and  holding  in  his  left  hand  a  pair  of 
pincers.  The  head  is  almost  bald,  the  beard  short,  the  lips  tightly 
set,  the  large  eyes  sharp  and  keen  and  the  whole  expression  one 
of  great  energy,  forcefulness  and  business  acumen.  In  this,  as  in 
all  his  portraits,  Pencz  takes  great  delight  in  the  accessories,  and 
seems  to  revel  in  the  brightness  of  mirrors,  the  transparency  of 
glass,  the  Hght  of  a  fire,  and  in  reflections  and  shadows. 

A  portrait  drawing  from  his  own  hand,  in  the  Albertina,  Vienna, 
introduces  us  to  Georg  Pencz's  friend  and  fellow  artist,  Hans  Sebald 
Beham.  It  presents  him  as  a  vigorous,  indeed  rough-looking  young 
man,  with  large  features  and  thick  nose  and  lips,  but  with  such  a 
penetrating  glance  and  so  evident  a  sense  of  humour  as  to  awaken 
the  suspicion  that  in  this  picture  of  himself  he  wilfully  indulged 
in  exaggeration  almost  to  the  point  of  caricature. 

Hans  Sebald's  term  of  banishment  evidently  expired  before 
1528,  for  his  name  is  to  be  found  in  that  year  on  the  list  of  paint- 
ers in  the  city;  in  1530  he  was  in  Munich;  in  1531  back  again  in 
Nuremberg  and  engaged,  in  company  with  Nicholas  Glockendon, 
upon  the  illustrations  for  Cardinal  Albrecht  of  Brandenburg's  Prayer- 
book,  which  is  now  in  Aschaffenburg  Castle.  Four  of  the  full-page 
cuts,  "Confession,"  "Penance,"  "Meditation"  and  "Communion," 
bear  his  monogram  H.S.B.  They  are  very  clear  and  well-balanced 
in  composition  and  the  individuals  are  given  with  much  lifelikeness. 
The  great  Cardinal  seems  to  have  been  strongly  attracted  by  the 
artist  and  his  work,  for  in  1534  he  induced  him  to  take  up  his 
residence  near  him,  in  Frankfort-on-Main,  where  he  remained  until 
his  death  in  1550.  Although  he  was  engaged  during  that  period 
on  engravings  and  drawings  for  woodcuts,  for  the  most  part,  he 
painted  for  the  Cardinal  a  table  top,  now  in  the  Louvre,  on  which 
he  pictured  four  scenes  from  the  Hfe  of  King  David;  his  Trium- 
phant Return  after  a  Victory,  the  Death  of  Uriah,  Nathan  re- 
proving David  and  Bathsheba's  Bath — ^in  which  the  King  is  seen 


282  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

on  a  remote  balcony  while  Cardinal  Albrecht  and  his  suite  occupy 
the  immediate  foreground. 

Hans  Sebald's  brother  Barthel,  who  had  also  suffered  expul- 
sion from  Nuremberg,  returned  there  in  the  late  twenties,  and,  in 
1530,  became  court  painter  to  Dukes  Louis  and  Wilhelm  of 
Bavaria.  In  1540  he  went  to  Italy,  where,  judging  from  his 
pictures,  he  had  undoubtedly  spent  some  time  earlier  in  his  career. 
In  the  same  year,  1540,  he  died. 

One  of  his  most  interesting  pictures  is  the  "Miracle  of  the  Cross," 
in  Munich  Pinakothek,  which  he  painted  in  1530  for  Duke  Wilhelm 
IV  of  Bavaria  and  which  is  signed  with  his  full  name.  The  scene 
is  laid  in  an  open  square  surrounded  by  Renaissance  buildings,  like 
a  piazza  in  Rome.  The  theme  of  the  picture  is  the  awakening 
of  a  woman  from  the  dead,  by  virtue  of  the  power  of  the  true  cross. 
Men  and  women,  bishops  and  other  distinguished  churchly  and 
worldly  personages  in  the  varying  costumes  and  headdresses  of 
the  period  throng  the  scene.  The  figures  are  large  and  stately; 
the  women  have  the  round  faces  and  short  chins  characteristic 
of  the  feminine  ideal  of  the  whole  group  of  painters  to  which 
Barthel  Beham  belonged.  The  composition,  though  crowded,  is 
well  ordered,  the  movement  very  restrained,  indeed  so  restrained 
that  we  doubt  the  sincerity  of  its  emotional  quality;  such  a  mir- 
acle warrants  more  self-forgetfulness  on  the  part  of  those  dames 
and  dignitaries  who  are  standing  or  kneeling  there  so  self- 
consciously. The  scene  itself,  the  architectural  setting,  the  shim- 
mering silks  and  the  joyous  colouring  cannot  fail  to  call  to  mind 
the  great  Venetian  decorator,  Paul  Veronese. 

As  court  painter  to  the  Dukes  of  Bavaria  the  younger  Beham 
naturally  painted  many  portraits  of  members  of  the  reigning  family. 
Fifteen  of  these  in  Schleissheim  Castle  are,  for  the  most  part,  mere 
craftsman's  work;  but  an  occasional  careful  and  expressive  portrait 
such  as  that  of  Duke  Philip,  1534,  in  Schleissheim,  or  that  of 
Elector  Otto,  1535,  in  Augsburg  Gallery,  makes  comprehensible 
Sandrart's  judgment  that  "some  portraits  from  his  hand  yield 
place  to  none  others  in  art  and  delicate  beauty." 

In  the  works  of  Diirer  and  Holbein  German  art  reached  its 


PUPILS  AND  FOLLOWERS  OF  DURER  283 

zenith,  and  with  their  passing  it  began  to  decline  rapidly.  For  a 
bare  quarter  of  a  century,  as  we  have  seen,  the  pupils  and  followers 
of  Diirer  continued  to  work  more  or  less  in  his  manner  and  to  retain 
the  distinctive,  external  characteristics  of  German  art;  but  even  in 
their  works  the  signs  of  change  and  decay  are  easy  to  read.  No  super- 
ficial cause,  but  the  spirit  of  the  age  was  at  the  root  of  this  decline. 
The  faith  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  a  thing  of  the  past.  Luther  had 
opened  the  eyes  of  the  mind  to  look  into  those  dogmas  of  the  church 
which  had  been  so  long  accepted  without  question;  had  upset  the 
dictatorship  of  organised  authority  over  men's  thoughts  and  beliefs; 
in  short,  had  established  the  individual  instead  of  the  organisation 
as  the  norm.  It  was  inevitable  that  upon  this  overturning  of  the 
accepted  and  traditional,  excesses  should  follow;  that  extremists 
should  before  long  push  the  new  individualism,  on  the  civic  side 
into  socialism,  on  the  religious  into  agnosticism.  Three  of  Diirer's 
own  pupils  of  the  younger  generation  were  banished  from  Nurem- 
berg for  a  time  as  socialists  and  atheists.  Fanatics  and  dema- 
gogues urged  the  Reformation  forward  with  a  zeal  and  a 
lamentable  extravagance  that  wrought  more  harm  to  Luther  and 
to  his  cause  than  did  his  bitterest  enemies.  The  picture-storming 
riots,  the  Anabaptist  heresy,  the  Peasants'  War — these  were 
some  of  the  developments,  which,  in  spite  of  his  loyalty  to  Luther, 
caused  WilHbald  Pirkheimer  to  exclaim,  "the  new  Evangelical 
knaves  make  the  Popish  knaves  seem  pious  by  comparison!"  Yet 
these  outbreaks  were  natural  enough,  indeed  almost  inevitable. 
The  picture-storming  was  but  a  voicing  of  the  protest  against  dic- 
tation in  matters  of  belief,  that  is  to  say,  in  favor  of  intellectual 
individuaHsm,  and  the  Peasants'  War  was  but  the  attempt  to 
assert  by  force  the  individual's  social  rights. 

But  the  very  existence  of  this  individualism  which  cried  so 
loudly  and  oftentimes  so  insanely  out  of  these  religious  and  social 
happenings  meant  death  to  German  art.  It  was  not  merely  that, 
in  some  cities,  works  of  art  were  destroyed  by  wholesale,  although 
that  was  discouraging  enough  to  the  artists  and  deterred  them  from 
the  practice  of  art  in  those  cities.  But  it  meant  that  an  atmosphere 
was  created  in  which  no  great  art  was  possible.  It  was  Richard 
Wagner  who  said  that  it  is  indispensable  to  a  great  art  era  that  a 


284  GERMAN  MASTERS  OF  ART 

whole  people  shall  be  taken  possession  of  by  a  common  ideal,  a 
universal  emotion.  Germany  had  now  become  a  seething  mass  of 
almost  as  many  varieties  of  faith  and  ideals  as  there  were 
individuals.  No  longer  could  the  artist  put  heart  and  soul  into  the 
representation  of  a  great  religious  scene  and  know  that  it  would  call 
forth  a  sympathetic  response,  an  answering  faith  and  enthusiasm  in 
all  those  of  his  nation  who  looked  upon  it.  No  longer  were  his 
pictures  spontaneous  confessions  of  his  own  faith  and  of  the  faith  of 
a  whole  people,  as  they  were  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries 
and  in  those  early  years  of  the  Reformation  when  Luther  was  arousing 
men's  hearts  to  a  fuller  reahsation  of  man's  nearness  to  the  unseen 
world  and  a  warmer  response  to  God's  wondrous  love  and  sacrifice 
for  men.  Probably  the  artist  himself  had  lost  his  old  interest  and 
faith,  or  at  least  had  adopted  a  different — a  critical — attitude  toward 
it,  as  had  his  public;  they  had  all  become  outsiders  and  onlookers, 
critics  not  creators.  Even  Holbein  had  arrived  at  this  detach- 
ment and  saw  things  from  the  outside,  though,  as  a  truly  great 
spirit,  with  such  sincerity  and  nobility  that  no  consciousness  of  it 
mars  the  truthfulness  and  dignity  of  his  work.  Yet  he  early  ceased 
to  paint  religious  pictures  and  devoted  himself  to  the  form  of  art 
which  alone  can  flourish  abundantly  in  an  individualistic  age — 
portrait  painting. 

By  way  of  supplying  this  lack  of  an  absorbing  universal  interest, 
and  of  satisfying  their  own  and  their  nation's  new  skeptical,  critical 
demands,  the  painters  turned  to  Italian  art,  with  its  clear  con- 
sciousness of  its  ideals,  its  formal  logic,  its  assurance  of  external 
beauty.  They  adopted  its  subjects,  historical,  mythological  and 
allegorical,  its  types  and  its  classical  canons,  and  their  art  settled 
swiftly  into  the  dry  and  meaningless  craftmanship  that  turns  out 
pictures  according  to  academic  formulse.  For  two  centuries 
there  was,  therefore,  no  German  art  as  such  and  it  is  only  in  our 
own  age  that,  with  the  birth  of  a  new  national  spirit,  we  have 
seen  the  promise  of  a  new,  national,  German  art. 


INDEX  OF  PAINTER'S  NAMES 


Aldegrever,  Heinrich,  81 

Altdorfer,  Albrecht,  6,  164,  165,  202-211,  272, 

Altdorfer,  Ulrich,  202 

Amberger,  Christoph,  172, 173 

Apt,  Ulrich,  171 

Arnold,  Master,  212 

Asper,  Hans,  136 

Baldung  Grun,  Hans,  122-126,  202,  203 

Bechler,  Heinrich,  133 

Beck.  Leonhard,  171,  172 

Beham,  Barthel,  271,  279,  280,  282 

Beham,  Hans  Sebald,  271,  279,  280,  281 

Beke,'Joos  van  der,  van  Cleve,  see  Master  of 

the  Death  of  Mary 
Benedict,  Lucas,  246 
Benessius,  Canonicus,  16 
Berthold   (Landauer),  Master,  37,  38,  215-222, 

229 
Bertram  (van  Byrde),    Master,   41-53  58.  59, 

65,  215,  221. 
Bink,  Jacob,  80 
Bock.  Hans,  134 
Bomeman,  Heinrich,  59 

Breu  (Brew,  Prew),  Jorg,  the  Elder,  152,  170 
Breu,  Jorg  the  Younger,  170 
Brosamer,  Hans,  96 
Bruyn,  Arnt,  79 
Bruyn,  Barthel,  78,  79 
Bruyn,  Barthel  the  Younger,  79 
Burgkmair,  Hans,  128,  161-168,  170 
Burgkmair,  Hans  the  Younger,  169-171 
Burgkmair,  Toman,  161 

Cleve,  Joos  van,  see  Master  of  the  Death  of 

Mary 
Conrad  (Stollen)  of  Soest.  Master,  81,  82 
Cranach,  Johannes  Lucas,  86,  96,  115,  116,  136 
Cranach,  Lucas,  86-93,  114-116,  210 
Cranach,  Lucas  the  Younger,  87,  96,  97 

Daig,  Hans,  132 

Daig  (Deig,  Taig),  Sebastian,  149,  150 

Dax,  Paul,  192 

Deutsch,  Nicholas  Manuel,  see  Manuel 

Diinwegge,  Heinrich,  84 

Diinwegge,  Victor,  84 

Dtirer,  Albrecht,  5-9,  64,  65,  80,  84,  102,  103, 
106,  122-124,  126-128,  131,  168,  187,  202, 
204,  209,  230-232,  237-239,  242,  246,  248- 
276,  280.  282,  283 

Darer,  Hans,  271,  272,  274 

Dyg,  Hans,  132, 133 


Eisner,  Jacob,  244,  245 

Feselen,  Melchior,  207,  211 

Francke,  Master,  52-59 

Frass,  Leo,  169 

Frelich,  Laux,  169 

Fries,  Hans,  133 

Frueauf,  Rueland,  191 

Frueauf,  Rueland  the  Younger,  241,  242 

Funhof,  Heinrich,  59 

Futerer,  Ulrich,  198 

Fyol,  Conrad.  102 

Fyol,  Hans,  102 

Fyol,  Sebald,  102 

Giltinger,  Gumpolt,  169 
Glockendon,  Nicholas,  2S1 
Gothland,  Peter,  see  Roddelstadt 
Graf,  Urs,  133,  134 
Grimmer,  Hans,  103 
Griin,  Hans  Baldung,  see  Baldung 
Grunewald,  Matthaus,  5,  7,  88,  104-116,  123, 
124, 126, 159, 178,  202,  207 

Haller,  Andr6,  193 

Hans,  Maler  zu  Schwaz,  142,  143 

Herbst  or  Herbster,  Hans,  132.  169 

Herlin,  Friedrich,  145.  147-149 

Herrad  von  Landsperg,  15 

Herzog,  Johann,  152 

Hess,  Martin,  see  Master  of  the  House  Book 

Hildegard,  Master,  80 

Holbein,  Ambrosius,  132,  136,  168,  174 

Holbein,   Hans   the  Elder,  132,  134,  151-160, 

168,  174,  177,  178 
Holbein,  Hans,  79,  80.  174-187,  282,  284 
Holbein,  Sigmund,  178 
Huber,  Wolf,  211 

Isenmann,  Casper,  127-129 

Joos  van  der  Beke  van  Cleve,  see  Master  of  the 

Death  of  Mary 
Joost,  Jan,  von  Calcar,  77 

Katzenheimer,  Wolfgang,  247 

Klauser,  Jacob,  134 

Kluber,  Hans  Hug.  134 

Konigsweiser,  Heinrich,  98 

Koerbecke,  Johann,  83 

Krell,  Hans,  96 

Krell,  Hans  the  Younger,  96 

Krodel,  Matthias.  98 

Krodel,  Wolfgang,  97 

Kulmbach,  Hans  Suess  von,  246,  271-275,  280 


285 


286 


INDEX  OF  PAINTER'S  NAMES 


Landauer,  see  Berthold 
Lebenbacher,  Friedrich,  28 
Leu,  Hans,  136 

Lochner,  Stephan,  63-69,  217,  221 
Lon,  Gert  von,  83 

Masselkirchner,  see  Mochselkirchner 

Maler  zu  Schwaz,  see  Hans 

Manuel  Deutsch,  Hans  Rudolph,  136 

Manuel  Deutsch,  Nicholas,  135,  136 

Master  of  the  Amsterdam  Cabinet,  102, 103 

Master  of  Cappenberg,  84 

Master  with  the  Carnation,  134 

Master  of  the  Death  of  Mary  (Jan  Joos  van  der 

Beke  van  Cleve),  77-79 
Master  of  Frankfort,  101,  102 
Master  of  the  Glorification  of  the  Virgin,  71 
Master  of  Grossgmain,  see  Frueauf,  191 
Master  of  the  Heisterbach  Altar,  69 
Master  of   the   High   Altar,   Heilsbronn,   see 

Trautt,  Hans 
Master  of  the  Holy  Kinship,  71-73,  77 
Master  of  the  House  Book,  102,  103 
Master  L.  F.  (Leo  Frass?  Laux  Freilich  ?),  161 
Master  of  Liesborn,  82,  83 
Master  of  the  Life  of  Mary,  70, 71,  79 
Master  of  the  Lyversberg  Passion,  71 
Master  of  the  Madonna  with  the  Bean  Blossom, 

61,  82,  221 
Master  of  Messkirch,  see  Ziegler,  Jorg 
Master  of  the  Pehringsdorffer  Altar,  see  Pley- 

denwurff,  Wilhelm 
Master  of  the  Przibram  "Holy  Family,"  216 
Master  of  St.  Bartholomew,  75,  76 
Master  of   the   St.  Clara  Altar,  81,  215,   see 

also  Wynrich 
Master  of  the  St.  George  Legends,  71 
Master  of  St.  Severin,  73-76 
Master  of  St.  Veronica,  63,  see  Wynrich 
Master  with  the  Scorpion,  26,  192 
Master  of  the  Sending  Out  of  the  Apostles,  245 
Master  of  Sigmaringen,  145,  148 
Master  of  Wittingau,  37,  215,  216 
Melem,  Hans  von,  80 
Mielich,  Hans,  see  Muelich,  200 
Mielich,  Wolfgang,  200 
Mochselkirchner     (Masselkirchner),     Gabriel, 

198 
Moser,  Lucas,  117-120,  140 
Muelich,  Hans,  200 
Muller,  Lucas,  see  Cranach 
Multscher,  Hans,  137-140 

Nicholas  of  Bohemia,  212 

Olmdorfer,  Hans,  198 
Ostendorfer,  Michael,  211 
Otto,  Master,  213 

Pacher,  Friedrich,  193 

Pacher,  Hans,  193 

Pacher,  Michael,  193-197 

Pencz.  Georg,  267,  271,  279-281 

Pfenning,  Master,  222-228,  235 

Pleydenwurflf,    Hans,    228-235,  239,  240,  244, 

246 
Pleydenwurff,  Wilhelm,  233,  237,  238,  240-245 


Pollack,  Jan,  199,  200 
Pseudo-Grunewald,  88,  114-116 

Raphon,  Hans,  94,  95 

Reichlich,  Martin,  28 

Ring,  Hermann  tom,  85 

Ring,  Ludger  tom,  84,  85 

Ring,  Ludger  tom,  the  Younger,  85 

Ring,  Nicholas  tom,  85 

Roddelstadt,  Peter,  98 

Sachs,  Hans,  18 

Schaffner,  Martin,  143-145 

Schaufelein,  Hans  Leonhard,  239,  271,  275-279 

Scheel,  Sebastian,  192 

Schongauer,  Ludwig,  131,  251 

Schongauer,  Martin,   106,   127-131,   139,  140 

161,  236,  251 
Schopfer,  Hans,  201 
Schopfer,  Hans  the  Younger,  201 
Schriet,  Nicholas,  102 

Schiihlein  (Schuchlein),  Hans,  139-141,  236 
Schwartz,  Christoph,  173 
Schwarz,  Martin,  150 
Simon  of  Aschaflfenburg,  114,  116 
Springinklee,  Hans,  272 
Stimmer,  Tobias,  134 
Stitny,  Thomas,  17 
Stollen,  see  Conrad 
Strigel,  Bernhard,  143;  151 
Strigel,  Ivo,  151 
Strigel,  Johann,  150 
Strigel,  Klaus,  151 
Stumme,  Absalom,  59 
Suelnmeigr,  N.,  83 

Suess  von  Kulmbach,  Hans,  246,  271,  272,  282 
Sunder,  Lucas,  see  Cranach 
Sunter,  Jacob,  26,  193 

Taig  (Teig),  Sebastian,  see  Daig 
Theodoric  of  Prague,  35-37 
Tom  Ring,  see  Ring 
Tommaso  da  Modena,  35-37 
Trautt,  Hans  of  Spires,  245,  246 
Trautt.  Wolf,  246 
Troppau,  Johann  von,  18 

Van  Byrde,  Bertram,  41-53,  58, 59,  65,215,  221 
Von  Kulmbach,  see  Kulmbach 

Wernher  von  Tegernsee,  15 

Wertinger,  Hans,  201 

Willehalm  (Wilhelm)  von  Oranse,  17 

Wilhelm,  Master,  61,  62 

Witz,  Conrad,  120-122 

Woensam,  Anton,  79 

Woensam,  Jasper,  79 

Wolf,  Hans,  246 

Wolgemut,   Michael,    24,   140,  229,    231-240, 

243-246.  250,  255,  265,  276 
Wolgemut,  Valentin,  232 
Wurmser,  Nicholas,  35-37 
Wynrich,  Hermann,  62 

Zeitblom,    Bartolommaus,  141-143,   152,   168 
Ziegler,  Jorg,  279 


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